440 POUNDS OF COCAINE SEIZED IN SAMPSON COUNTY

INGOLD -- Sampson County narcotics agents seized 440 pounds of
cocaine on Edmond Matthis Road on Monday.

The street value of the cocaine was estimated at $20 million,
according to a statement from the Sampson County Sheriff's Office.

Two men were charged with trafficking the drug by possession, the
statement said.

Sheriff Jimmy Thornton would not say whether the drugs were found in
a car or during a raid at a home. Thornton also would not say where
along the road the drugs were seized.

"Over time it will all come out, but right now we can't say," the sheriff said.

Charged were: Alejandro Moreno-Salgado, 27, of Harrells, and Isais
Mareno-Ochea, 41, of Rose Hill.

Mareno-Ochea's bail was set at $450,000.

Moreno-Salgado also is charged with trafficking by transporting
cocaine and maintaining a vehicle for the sale of a controlled
substance. His bail was set at $1 million.

Part of Edmond Matthis Road is in the Ingold community in southern
Sampson County between Clinton and Garland. The road stretches for
six miles from U.S. 701 to U.S. 421 and is peppered with farmhouses,
cow pastures and crop fields.

Ingold is a rural crossroads dotted with a few brick churches and is
home to a county water tower.

The bust was the result of a joint investigation between the
sheriff's offices in Sampson, Duplin, New Hanover and Wake counties.
Investigators with the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office said they
would not release any information. Agents with the Wake County
Sheriff's Office could not be reached for comment. Duplin County
officials referred questions to the Sampson County Sheriff's Office.

Sampson County Chief Deputy John Conerly would not say how long
detectives had been conducting the investigation or how it began. He
would not release any details of the bust.

"It's ongoing," he said.

Thornton said the drugs were turned over to agents with the federal
Drug Enforcement Administration. He said the bust was one of the
largest in the county.

"It's up there," he said.

Emmett Highland, resident agent in charge with the DEA office in
Wilmington, declined to discuss details of the case. Highland said
investigators are keeping quiet for a reason.

"We don't want to compromise other avenues that we are investigating," he said.

Highland said he did not know whether Monday's bust was one of the
biggest in state history.

"This is a substantial cocaine seizure which will be a significant
impact on cocaine trafficking in eastern North Carolina," he said.
"It is an indicator of the threat that we have here in North Carolina."