ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SC (WBTW) – Orangeburg County Sheriff’s investigators say two men were arrested on drug-related charges after nearly $11,000 in cash and a quantity of marijuana was seized.
Sheriff Leroy Ravenell said Travis Mack, 33, of Santee, and Willie Young, 28, of Holly Hill, were each taken into custody on a charge of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
“Two pounds of marijuana was taken off of our streets,” the sheriff said. “We also seized $9,988 from the motel room and another $820 from an individual attempting to leave the area.”
Investigators were initially sent out on an unrelated call around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at a Santee business. Once on scene, deputies learned possible robbery subjects had fled toward a nearby Old Number Six Highway motel.
K-9 handlers arriving on scene noticed an individual at the motel who would “repeatedly peek out of the door of a motel room,” according to the report.
When the curious subject attempted to leave in a vehicle, he was stopped. As deputies approached his car, they smelled a “strong odor” of what was believed to be marijuana. When asked, the man said he had about two pounds of marijuana in the car, the report stated.
When asked why the man decided to leave the motel room, the driver said “because he saw the K-9.”
Inside the motel room, another man was located. A quantity of drug paraphernalia was also found inside the room. The men are not believed to have been connected to the initial incident.
Bond was set on Young at $5,000 cash or surety. Mack’s bond was $5,000 personal recognizance.
“One day people will learn that selling drugs doesn’t pay, you pay when you sell drugs,” Ravenell said.
