Driving through Nixon, Nev. has allegedly slowed as police are searching vehicles heading to Burning Man that may have drugs on board.
Opiates in particular, according to the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s Secretary Brenda Henry.
“If you don’t have anything to hide, you’re good to go,” Henry told ThisisReno.
She said that officers are following direction from “the top” — the U.S. Department of the Interior down through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, to crack down on drugs.
“You mean from President Trump?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said and then deferred further questions to tribal police.
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s chief of police did not return a call for comment by the time of publication.
Burners are warning one another about the pullovers on social media.
“The rumors are true!” wrote one person in a private burner Facebook group. “Take extreme caution getting to Burning Man. The police are waiting for you, far more (than) usual. Follow all traffic laws.
“There are many law enforcement agencies wanting to pull you over. We were just thoroughly searched in Nixon.”
Another report:
“A friend of mine stopped to mail something in Nixon. The cops blocked him them in, claimed the didn’t see any signal and asked about drugs. The did not consent to search, after which police claimed their dogs alerted on their truck. Police took apart their trailer and part of their truck. They were there for over two. Be careful out there, burners, and don’t stop in Nixon.”
The stops appear to have been going on for days as people are starting to head to the playa for the 2018 burn. There are a number of threads on Reddit about the stops: https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/
