FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 23, 2000

CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Department of Public Safety Director B. Boykin Rose today announced that the Highway Patrol seized one kilogram of cocaine in a Saturday evening traffic stop along I-20 in Lexington County. The street value of the seized cocaine is about $100,000.

"We are committed to making South Carolina’s roadways safer for our citizens and visitors," Rose said. "In addition to taking dangerous drivers off the road, we are focusing our enforcement efforts on intercepting illegal drugs before they make it into the hands of neighborhood dealers."

Around 7:30 p.m., Saturday, August 19, a 1998 Chevrolet rental car driven by Hector Tamavo of Stoneville, North Carolina, was stopped near the 43 mile marker on I-20 eastbound. Troopers from the Highway Patrol ACE Team, which focuses on drug interdiction, pulled the car over for speeding. After talking with Tamavo, the troopers searched the car and found a clear plastic bag containing one kilogram of cocaine in a detergent box on the rear floor of the car.

Tamavo and his passenger, Norma Edith R. Zamarripa of Axton, Virginia, were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine.

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JB/100/2000

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