200 KILOS OF COCAINE SEIZED

INGOLD -- Approximately $20 million worth of cocaine was seized and
two Sampson County men arrested Monday by Sampson County Sheriff's
authorities, working in conjunction with sheriff's officers in three
other counties as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Sampson Sheriff Jimmy Thornton called the seizure the largest he has
ever encountered and a "crippling blow" to drug traffickers in the state.

As a result of the seizure, Alejandro Moreno-Salgado, 27, of 56
Melvin Road, Harrells, and Isais Mareno-Ochea, 41, of 2517 Register
Sutton Road, Rose Hill, were each charged with trafficking cocaine by
possession.

Moreno-Salgado also was charged with trafficking cocaine by transport
and maintaining a vehicle for the sale of a controlled substance.

According to authorities, around 5 p.m. Monday, 440 pounds (200
kilograms) of cocaine was seized on Edmond Matthis Road in the Ingold
community of southern Sampson County.

The seizure was the result of a joint investigation by the Sampson
County Sheriff's Office's Special Investigation Division, Duplin
County Sheriff's Office, New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, Wake
County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The cocaine was reportedly seized from a vehicle being driven by
Moreno-Salgado. Details on the type of vehicle being driven was not disclosed.

"Through the dedication and hard work of the men and women involved
in the investigation, a crippling blow was dealt to drug traffickers
in southeastern North Carolina," Thornton said in a prepared
statement. "Over 200 kilograms of cocaine didn't make it into the
hands of someone's child or loved one. We've turned up the heat on
drug dealers and we will continue to turn it up even more."

The sheriff said that the 440-pound chunk taken off the streets was
the largest he can recall in Sampson County or any other for that
matter. "That's a world of dope," he said.

And, Thornton added, the investigation by county, state and federal
authorities is continuing.

Bond for Moreno-Salgado and Mareno-Ochea was set at $1 million and
$450,000, respectively. Both are currently being detained in the
Sampson County Detention Center.