2 CHARGED WITH MARIJUANA TRAFFICKING

A routine traffic stop on Interstate 20 led to two men being charged Sunday
with marijuana trafficking. "This is a by-product of increased patrols on
I-20," Pell City Police Chief Mike Hale said. "There is a perception that
there is something wrong with us being out there. We can be out there, and
we should be out there. We know there is more than just this being
transported along I-20. I'm going to continue to allow my officers to
patrol the two-tenths of a mile of I-20 that's in our city limits."

Pell City police charged Pedro Sanchez, 25, of Goldsboro, N.C., and Saul
Damian, 21, of Fort Pierce, Fla., with one count each of trafficking
marijuana after 65 pounds of the drug were found in a U-Haul truck they
were traveling in along I-20.

Both men are being held in the St. Clair County Jail in Pell City on
$250,000 cash bonds. The men were en route from Texas to North Carolina
when they were stopped.

Hale credited increased patrols along I-20 and the alertness of Pell City
officer Vince Warrington for discovering the marijuana hidden in the back
of an old console television, which was stored in the back of the rented
U-Haul truck.

"I'm especially proud of Officer Warrington, and the cooperation we get
from the Riverside Police Department," Hale said.

At about 2:50 p.m. Friday, Warrington stopped the vehicle the men were
traveling in because the driver of the truck was following too closely
behind another vehicle.

"I told them I was just going to give them a warning," Warrington said.
"Anyone would be happy to find out they were just getting a warning, but
these folks were nervous."

Several things didn't add up when Warrington questioned the driver. The
driver later gave permission to search the truck, but before Warrington
did, he radioed for backup.

Riverside Police K-9 Officer Richard Woods said he was just about to leave
for work when he was called at home.

Woods went directly to the 161 mile marker in the east bound lane of I-20
where Warrington had stopped the suspects. Xeno, the Riverside Police
Department's drug sniffing dog, gave a positive "hit" that drugs were in
the truck.

"We knew it was somewhere," Woods said.

During the search of the vehicle, Warrington, an experienced undercover
narcotics officer, spotted a piece of plastic bag protruding from the back
of the floor model television's console. It was later discovered there were
several plastic containers packaged with marijuana.

Warrington had just completed a two-day school on "Aggressive Criminal
Interdiction." His stop was a textbook case of interdiction. The Pell City
officer paid for the course himself, taking two days of his own time to
attend the course.

"We may have to reimburse him, how about that?" Hale said.

Warrington said he was just happy to do his job.

"Dope is dope," he said. "We need to get it off the streets."

Woods said it takes local law enforcement agencies working together like
this to make a difference.

"I think by working together there's going to be a lot more success like
this," he said.

Authorities estimated the street value of the marijuana confiscated at
between $100,000 and $150,000.

Trafficking marijuana is a Class A felony and carries a minimum sentence of
three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.