Cameras placed along expressway in fight against drug sales

CHICAGO (AP) - Surveillance cameras have been placed along a Chicago expressway in an effort to crack down on illegal activity in neighboring areas frequented by drug dealers.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says about 20 cameras have been placed along a seven-mile stretch of the Eisenhower Expressway, which connects the city's western suburbs to the city's central business district.

Authorities say the expressway has become notorious as an access route for drug users from the suburbs and elsewhere to travel to Chicago's West Side for their fix.

Johnson says homes and businesses near the expressway have particularly suffered from the sale of illegal drugs to the point where the area has become known as the "Heroin Highway."

Officials say the cameras will have license plate readers and will focus on vehicles whose owners are wanted for crimes primarily related to drug activity and the violence tied into it.