Seneca Man Arrested on Drug Trafficking Charge after Friday Morning Traffic Stop

(Walhalla, SC) ————————————-A traffic stop last Friday morning by the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office, near the Georgia-South Carolina line, led to a drug trafficking charge against a Seneca man.

39-year-old Martin Acosta, Jr. was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center at around 1:12pm on Friday, March 22nd. Acosta, Jr. was the passenger in a vehicle, a Chevrolet Equinox, which was the vehicle involved in the traffic stop.

A Deputy from the Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement (P.A.C.E.) team, on routine patrol on
Toccoa Highway last Friday morning, observed the driver of the Equinox commit a traffic violation. The Deputy executed a traffic stop in the parking lot of a business and made contact Acosta, Jr. and with the driver, identified as 28-year-old Aureliana Louise Stringer of Seneca.

Stringer informed the Deputy that she did not have a driver’s license. The Deputy asked for consent to search the vehicle, which was declined. The Deputy then deployed K-9 Officer Zeke for further investigation.

After Zeke indicated a positive hit on the vehicle, a search of the vehicle was conducted. A
quantity of Heroin and Fentanyl was located inside of the vehicle, along with an amount of
Methamphetamine that constituted a trafficking weight of the drug. A firearm was also located inside of the vehicle.

Based upon further investigation, arrest warrants were obtained on Acosta, Jr. on charges of Trafficking in Methamphetamine, Possession with Intent to Distribute Heroin, Possession of Fentanyl and Possession of a Weapon during Commission of a Violent Crime. Acosta, Jr. was also served with an outstanding arrest warrant for a charge of Shoplifting based upon an investigation at the Seneca Walmart on February 14th, 2023.

Stringer was also served two outstanding arrest warrants in regard to two separate investigations. One arrest warrant charged Stringer with Unlawfully Placing a Child at Risk.
According to the arrest warrant in that investigation, Stringer admitted using Heroin daily while the child testing positive for Methamphetamine, Amphetamine, Fentanyl, Nor fentanyl and Fluro fentanyl.

The second outstanding arrest warrant for Stringer charged her with Assault and Battery – 3rd Degree due to Stringer striking a victim in the face back on April 15th, 2023, at an address in Seneca.

At this time, Acosta, Jr. remains in jail on a combined $202,125.00 surety bond. Acosta, Jr. will have to wear an electronic monitoring device, as a condition of bond, should he be released from jail.

Stringer received a combined $11,087.50 personal recognizance bond on her two outstanding arrest warrants and remains in custody by wearing an electronic monitoring device as a condition of bond.

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation. Due to the ongoing
investigation, the approximate amounts of drugs seized will not be released at this time.