MARIJUANA WORTH $1.25 MILLION FOUND IN CITRUS SHIPMENT ON I-85

A search among crates of oranges, lemons and limes bore fruit Friday when
Greenville County sheriff's deputies came across 46 packages on a pallet in
the trailer of an 18-wheeler.

Inside the packages, deputies found 550 pounds of marijuana with a street
value of $1.25 million, according to Sgt. John Nantz, Sheriff's Office
spokesman. It's the most deputies have ever recovered from inside one
vehicle, he said.

Nantz said the bust went down this way:

Deputies were patrolling Interstate 85 at about 1:30 a.m. when they pulled
the northbound tractor-trailer over because one of its headlights was out.
While questioning the driver and passenger of the rig, deputies became
suspicious.

After deputies obtained the men's permission to search the truck, a
narcotics dog alerted deputies to the marijuana stash.

Both men were arrested and are being detained at the Greenville County
Detention Center. Deputies have charged John Anthony Erazo, 32, of Orlando,
Fla., and Isidaro Alfredo Adan, 46, of Kissimmee, Fla., with trafficking
marijuana in excess of 100 pounds.

Nantz said the truck belonged to a Florida trucking company. It was headed
to New Jersey, he said.

"We'll be talking to the DEA to widen the scope of the investigation,"
Nantz said.

The bust follows in the footsteps of several other seizures on Interstate
85. In August of last year, the Highway Patrol recovered 400 pounds of
marijuana, close to the site where 1,000 pounds of cocaine was seized in
late April.

In April of 1999, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office seized 2½ pounds
of methamphetamine during a traffic stop.