Wednesday, July 30, 2008State patrol marks successful first year in illegal immigrant arrests
42 human-smuggling arrests have been made
By ASHLEY DICKSON
summit daily news
Summit County, CO Colorado

Sgt. Tim Maestas, with the Colorado State Patrol, writes out a speeding ticket while patrolling Interstate 70 recently.
Summit Daily/Mark FoxDENVER — As an unmarked van speeds 80 m.p.h. in a clearly marked 50 m.p.h. zone, a Colorado State Trooper switches on the sirens on his patrol car and prepares to make a routine traffic stop.

Pulling up behind the vehicle, the trooper calls in the lisence plate numbers to dispatch, approaches the vehicle and asks the driver for a license and registration.

When he discovers that the van driver has no license, and the occupants crammed into the back seat are in the county illegally, the routine traffic stop has turned into a human-smuggling bust.

This is a scenario that troopers are now prepared for when they patrol Colorado’s highways.

It has been a little over a year since Colorado State Trooper Rob Hampton underwent training to enforce U.S. immigration laws, an added authority that has already proved successful during statewide highway patrols.

“We go out like any other state trooper to enforce traffic laws,â€