FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2002
CONTACT: SID GAULDEN, 803-896-8755

COLUMBIA - The South Carolina Department of Public Safety announces that the State Transport Police made a traffic stop around 1:15 p.m. today on I-85 in Cherokee County, which resulted in the seizure of 750 pounds of marijuana with a street value of around $1.5 million.

The State Transport Police STAR (Strategic Traffic Alcohol Radar) unit, which conducts special traffic and enforcement efforts with a focus on commercial motor vehicles, stopped a box truck moving van for speeding and following too closely around the 88 mile marker northbound. The STP officer, with the assistance of the Highway Patrol’s ACE K-9 unit, uncovered more than 750 pounds of marijuana concealed within the load of the truck.

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office also assisted STP and the Highway Patrol, both divisions of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Two men, whose identities have not been released, have been arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana and will be held at the Cherokee County Jail.

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