HPD highway interdiction unit outlines how traffic stops turn up large narcotics and weapons hauls

Sergeant Matthew Ham, the sergeant over the Highway Interdiction Unit in the Traffic Enforcement Division for the Houston Police Department, told a City Committee on June 4 that his team focuses on transforming traffic stops into criminal investigations to disrupt smuggling that moves through the Houston area.

Ham said the unit targets highways that connect to the border and the Port of Houston, which he described as “a nexus to the border” and a frequent route for contraband. “Our main focus at Highway Interdiction is to disrupt and dismantle criminal activity that occurs on the highways throughout the Houston area,” he said.

The unit, Ham said, conducts marked traffic stops on freeways and uses two narcotics canines, handheld X‑ray devices and a ZBB backscatter X‑ray van to inspect…