People caught driving along Interstate 70 in Mesa County with large amounts of illegal drugs might be more likely to find themselves in federal court in the future, as the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Grand Junction moves to start adopting more trafficking cases from local law enforcement.

Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer said that, thanks to a planned staff expansion, a new agreement with the Mesa County Jail and a solid working relationship with local law enforcement, his office’s Grand Junction branch is poised to start taking on more drug trafficking cases.

“Grand Junction is the highest profile location (in Colorado) for our interdiction cases,” Troyer said. “It’s a fact that we have recently adopted some more drug interdiction cases. … You’ll see an increase in us taking those kind of cases.”

Typically, people arrested on I-70 with large shipments of heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and other drugs have been prosecuted by the Mesa County District Attorney’s Office, although many would qualify for federal prosecution, District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said.

Read more at the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.