TROOPERS MAKE HUGE HEROIN HAUL

Officers Arrest 2, Find Drugs Valued At Up To $15M

A New York couple is sitting in the Dorchester County Jail, charged with
trafficking the largest amount of heroin the S.C. Highway Patrol has seized
since its Aggressive Criminal Enforcement unit was formed 12 years ago.

The 11 kilograms (24.2 pounds) of heroin found Wednesday hidden in a
rental car headed north on Interstate 95 has a street value of up to
$15 million, officials said.

"We've made bigger seizures of kilos of cocaine, but not of heroin,"
ACE commander Capt. Kenny Lancaster said. Specific numbers on drug
seizures made this year by ACE troopers weren't available Thursday.
The ACE unit focuses on other criminal activity, like fugitive
apprehension and recovering stolen vehicles and guns, in addition to
drug interdiction.

The adage in law enforcement is the money goes south, the drugs go
north.

The suspects, Gustavo Castano, 51, and his wife, Alba C. Castano, 48,
are from New York state and were traveling from Jacksonville, Fla., to
New York.

It's not unusual for heroin, cocaine and marijuana to be found on I-95
north, but Wednesday's seizure is "a lot of heroin to be in one place
at one time," said John Ozaluk, agent in charge of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration offices in South Carolina.

It's also a significant seizure for the amount of money the heroin
could have generated had it reached its destination, Ozaluk said.

Heroin is far more expensive than cocaine, Ozaluk said. In New York,
cocaine could run from $24,000 to $25,000 per kilo, compared with
$100,000 and up for the same amount of heroin, he said. The dollar
figures climb when a kilo of heroin is broken down to street-level
quantities.

Once troopers have made a large narcotics seizure, the DEA picks up
the investigation. Agents will try to identify the source of the
heroin and the customers to see if it ties into an open investigation
elsewhere, Ozaluk said."Someone is going to be on the hook for those
11 (kilos) of heroin. In many cases, it's a very unfortunate end to
someone who is in the transportation business," Ozaluk said.

There's no such thing as a profile of a drug courier, Lancaster said.
ACE troopers have arrested suspects of all races, genders and ages,
some in their 60s.

As uniform patrols become more aggressive on the interstates, drug
couriers have to be more creative in hiding their haul, Ozaluk said.

"The real heroes in this one are the interdiction people, in this case
the Highway Patrol. It really goes to the training and the expertise
of the trooper that stopped the car," Ozaluk said.

For the officers' protection, the Highway Patrol doesn't release the
names of ACE troopers.

Wednesday's seizure began with a 4 p.m. traffic stop in Dorchester
County of a 2005 rental car that was crossing the center line and
weaving. The couple consented to a search of the car and a dog was
brought in to take a sniff.

"From the amount of heroin they had, it probably didn't take the dog
long to hit it," S.C. Department of Public Safety spokesman Sid
Gaulden said.

Troopers found bundles of heroin hidden on top of the spare tire under
the car and inside the right rear door.

In the past, troopers have taken gas tanks, drive shafts and wheels
off vehicles to find drugs, Lancaster said. It's an ongoing process of
uncovering new ways couriers hide drugs.

"The bottom line is, they're watching us as close as we're watching
them," Lancaster said.