Pubdate: 01 Jun 2000
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Copyright: 2000 Roanoke Times
Contact:  201 W. Campbell Ave., Roanoke, Va. 24010
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/index.html
Author: Michael Hemphill
Bookmark: additional articles on cannabis are available at 
http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm

DEA TRACKS POT TRAIL FROM MEXICO TO VA.

Wytheville Man Organized Trucks To Haul Thousands Of Pounds Of Drugs

Federal authorities described Wednesday how a drug bust in November along 
the Texas border led them to a Wytheville man who has masterminded the 
shipment of thousands of pounds of pot for a year.

Using his Wytheville trucking company, William A. Salem, 47, organized 
regular trips from Mexico to Virginia, according to confidential sources 
cited by the Drug Enforcement Administration in a search warrant unsealed 
Wednesday in U.S. District Court. Each haul involved 3,000 to 5,000 pounds 
of marijuana wrapped in cellophane, packed in produce and covered with ice, 
the search warrant states.

Salem, who has split time the last eight years living in Salem, Wytheville, 
and McAllen, Texas, was indicted in April in Texas and pleaded guilty May 
19 in Corpus Christi federal court to possession with the intent to 
distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, said Assistant U.S. 
Attorney Robert Galvan.

The prosecutor declined further comment, saying there is an ongoing 
investigation.

The inquiry began six months ago, when agents at a border patrol checkpoint 
in Falfurrias, Texas, arrested Raymond James Beecher, who was hauling 5,326 
pounds of marijuana and 26.5 pounds of cocaine. His trailer was registered 
to A&W Transport of Wytheville, which is owned by Salem and his father. The 
tractor was registered to Salem's girlfriend, Julie Richey of McAllen, the 
search warrant states.

Informants told authorities that Salem had paid one man $30,000 for each of 
20 marijuana hauls made since last July. Through the informants, DEA agents 
learned of a shipment scheduled March 31 to leave Salem's Texas warehouse 
on a white 1992 Freightliner.

DEA agents staked out the warehouse, spotted the truck being loaded with 
boxes and tailed it. At a truck stop in McAllen, they saw Salem get into 
the cab. Just down the road, the agents stopped the truck and found 2,500 
pounds of marijuana inside.

"When you consider 2,000 pounds of marijuana, I mean, that's significant 
anywhere in the country," said James Gregorius, resident agent-in-charge of 
the DEA office in Roanoke. "For here, that would be big deal."

Gregorius wouldn't say how much of the marijuana made it to Southwest Virginia.

Suspecting Salem had hidden many assets he bought with drug money, Roanoke 
DEA agents searched his mother's Wytheville home, where Salem lives while 
in Virginia. During the April 1 search, they found bank statements 
documenting large transactions, wire transfers, a 2000 Cadillac Deville 
with $8,500 cash in the trunk, pistols, jewelry and a key to a safe deposit 
box - items his mother couldn't afford on her own, the warrant says.

The warrant unsealed Wednesday was obtained to search the safe deposit box, 
in which agents found cash and two cloth bags. Gregorius said the bags held 
nothing important, but the amount of money, which he wouldn't specify, 
totaled five figures.

Salem's mother has an unpublished number and couldn't be reached for 
comment. His sentencing is scheduled for July 28.
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