GOLDEN, Colo. (KDVR) — This year, Colorado State Patrol is celebrating 90 years of serving and protecting our state. To commemorate this milestone, each month, FOX31 is getting an exclusive look at different aspects of state patrol and those wearing the badge. 

This month, FOX31 rode along with the troopers and K9s working to stop drug and human trafficking on our interstates.

Along I-70, troopers analyze the flowing traffic as drivers pass by.

“There are certain markers that you're looking for that make you believe that that vehicle may be involved in criminal activity,” one trooper said. “We're looking for kilos and pounds, high level smuggling. It could be just a straight shot from Denver or Chicago all the way to Las Cruces or El Paso.”

A single traffic stop could be an opportunity for troopers to intercept major danger.

“Knowing that I'm taking these 50,000 or 100,000 blue fentanyl pills off the street, I know that's 100,000 pills that somebody is not going to get, especially if the destination is a stash house in Denver or in the metro,” the supervisor said. “I’m able to actually physically touch and pick this up and know that this is not going to get into my community for my kids, for your kids, for, you know, the schools, for just the people that have an addiction, that are trying to beat it.”

The nature of who troopers are focused on taking down is why we concealed their identities as we rode along with the Colorado State Patrol’s Smuggling Trafficking Interdiction Section.

“Everything we do is intentional and we try to do it as safe as possible, too, because very often you don't just find the drugs, you'll find a handgun sitting under the seat,” a trooper said. 

Troopers told FOX31 about the hidden dangers in cars sharing our roadways.

“The transportation part of the drug trafficking or that organization, they might have one guy whose his job is to procure vehicles, put traps in, and then provide them to the source of supply,” the trooper said. “So you'll have multiple different layers.”

K9s like Kona serve as a helpful tool in sniffing out hidden drugs. 

“Everything is observation perception, what you are observing and how it relates to criminal trade craft.”

Along with focused observation, troopers rely on a keen knowledge of the law.

“We believe that we are guided by the Fourth Amendment because it's the most important and sacred thing that we have is not violating people's rights and making sure that we're doing it right.”