$1 million in marijuana seized in Duplin County
By Staff and Wire
Published in News on March 30, 2006 1:48 PM
KENANSVILLE -- Four men have been arrested and more than $1 million in marijuana has been seized as a result of an investigation by the Duplin County Sheriff's Department.
"We arrested two folks last Tuesday in the Rose Hill area, and at that time confiscated about 270 pounds of marijuana," Sheriff Blake Wallace said.
Wallace said the arrests of two men near Rose Hill, whose names have not been released, led to the subsequent arrests Tuesday night.
"We arrested a Jose William Pacheco Tuesday evening about 5:30, with an additional 340 pounds of marijuana." That arrest took place in Magnolia.
"About midnight Tuesday, we arrested Eleazar Montes from Houston, Texas who flew into Raleigh-Durham Airport," Wallace said.
Montes is believed to be the source of the marijuana, Wallace said.
"He arrived in North Carolina to receive payment for the shipment that preceded him," Wallace said.
In addition to the marijuana, which Wallace said had a street value in excess of $1 million, about $19,700 in cash was seized. Confiscated weapons have been forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Pacheco, 38, also of Houston, was charged with felony conspiracy to traffic marijuana, maintaining a vehicle for keeping and selling marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and three counts of drug trafficking.
Montes, 43, was charged with felony conspiracy to traffic marijuana.
Wallace said both men arrested Tuesday are being held under $1 million dollar bonds.