A new high-tech drug fighting tool is getting more use across the state. The machine called an ION (eye-on) scanner is mounted on the back of a truck operated by the Iowa National Guard. Colonel Robert King says it works like a vacuum cleaner and can suck up, then analyze, microscopic particles. The scanner was purchased with federal drug fighting funds and is operated by the Iowa Guard. The scanner was most recently used in a commercial vehicle stop by the Cedar Rapids police department. The logbooks and papers from 36 vehicles were scanned and drugs were detected in four cases.
