DEPUTIES SEIZE 14 POUNDS OF DRUGS IN I-95 STOP

Cumberland County sheriff's deputies seized more than 14 pounds of cocaine
during a routine traffic stop on Interstate 95 Tuesday afternoon. Lt. Sam
Pennica said Jose Vazquez and Manuel Fernandez were charged with
trafficking by possession, trafficking by transportation and conspiracy to
traffic cocaine.

Pennica said the men were driving north when deputies stopped the white
1988 Toyota Camry for a seat belt violation.

The men agreed to let deputies search the trunk, Pennica said. Deputies
found six bags of cocaine, four of which were covered in yellow mustard, he
said. Pennica said mustard is often used by drug smugglers to cover up the
drug's odor. The cocaine was found in a blue shopping bag.

Vazquez is 36 and Fernandez is 27. Both are from the Bronx, N.Y., and told
sheriff's investigators they were driving from Miami to New York.

Fernandez told investigators that he is a police officer in the Dominican
Republic. The car has a Patrolmen's Benevolent Association tag on the front
windshield and an anti-drug baseball cap on the back dashboard.

The Drug Enforcement Agency has been asked to aid the sheriff's office in
the investigation, Pennica said.

Fernandez and Vazquez were being held in the Cumberland County jail without
bond Tuesday night.