TRAFFIC STOP LEADS TO SEIZURE OF OVER $70,000

KENANSVILLE -- Nearly $78,000 in cash was seized as a result of two
routine traffic stops made by members of the Duplin Interstate
Criminal Enforcement team recently, according to information released
by sheriff's authorities Tuesday. The sheriff said approximately
$300,000 has been seized in the last year alone through the work of
county deputies.

In the most recent of the two stops, the larger of the two, a vehicle
being driven by a Forsyth County teenager, was found to contain
$75,000. The stop was made by Lee Graham, deputy with the DICE team,
shortly before 9 a.m. April 16.

The 1999 Toyota Camry being driven by Genaro Jacobo Manuel, 19, of
Winston-Salem, was stopped for following too close to another vehicle
on Interstate 40, just inside the Sampson-Duplin county line, Graham
said.

According to Graham, a narcotics scan of the Camry by Lt. Chris
Smith's K-9 Sasha resulted in a "positive alert" on the vehicle. A
subsequent search of the vehicle by deputies netted the discovery of
the money, hidden in a concealed compartment and packaged tightly in
the same fashion as normally seen with drugs.

While no drugs were found in the vehicle, Graham explained that the
positive alert from the drug dog indicates the presence of drugs at
some point.

"We know drugs have been in the vehicle," Graham noted.

The deputy said when Manuel was confronted about the money, he could
not give "a legitimate reason" for why he was in possession of that
amount of cash. Graham said the teenager went so far as to deny any
knowledge of the money, telling authorities that neither the money nor
the car was his.

Manuel was charged with following too closely and no operator's
license, two misdemeanor offenses for which he received $1,000 secured
bond.

According to Duplin County Sheriff Blake Wallace, the $75,000 has been
handed over to federal authorities with the hopes that the Duplin
County Sheriff's Office may be able to recoup some of those funds.

Federal forfeiture statutes allow law enforcement agencies to seize
real property, cash, vehicles or any other form of alleged illegally
gained assets used in drug trafficking or the product of drug
trafficking. The law does not allow the transport of more than $10,000
without the proper federal documentation.

Through the Asset Forfeiture Program, Wallace said he hoped his office
would receive approximately 80 percent of the money seized during the
stop.

"In the last year, we have received over $300,000 through the
program," remarked Wallace. The money has gone toward equipment needs
in the Sheriff's Office, as well as overtime money for deputies, and
funds to make undercover drug purchases, the sheriff said.

Graham emphasized that sheriff's deputies were not simply confiscating
the working man's hard-earned wages with such money seizures.

"These are proceeds from criminal activity," the deputy said. "We're
not seizing honest people's money, like the farmer whose money is
going toward the payroll."

The trafficking of drugs and money is something that seems to be
omnipresent in Duplin and surrounding counties, a presence of which
Wallace and his deputies are fully aware and work to combat each day.

"The only way to hurt these people is to hit them where it hurts -- in
the pocketbook," the sheriff said. This is just another tool we can
use to combat drug activity."

Wallace said authorities with Immigration and Customs Enforcement have
also been notified, and Manuel is currently "in their system and may
be subject to deportation."

Lottery tickets, cash seized

The Duplin County Board of Education will be the beneficiary of an
alleged illegal lottery, thanks to another recent traffic stop made
earlier this year by members of the DICE team, who seized nearly
$3,000 in cash that will be handed over to the school board.

As a result of the stop, a Pender County man was arrested on charges
he allegedly participated in an illegal lottery and was in possession
of a concealed weapon, according to sheriff's authorities.

Devane Bannerman, 67, of N.C. 210, Rocky Point, was charged with
possession of lottery tickets, selling lottery tickets and a
misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon.

Graham stopped a vehicle being driven by Bannerman on I-40, near
Wallace, on Jan. 19. After noticing what Graham called "numerous
criminal indicators" and "nervousness" from Bannerman, a consent
search on the vehicle was conducted.

The search resulted in the discovery of a concealed handgun --
Bannerman later got the weapon back as owner of a permit for it -- and
$2,773 in cash and several "bread and butter" lottery tickets,
allegedly drawn up with the purpose of illegally "running numbers" in
the regular lottery, authorities said.

Wallace said that it was notable that the money received from illegal
activity would now be going to serve a good purpose -- the education of
youth.

"What's significant," the sheriff said, "is that the monies will be
turned over to the school board."