COCAINE SEIZURE THE CITY'S LARGEST

GREENSBORO -- Narcotics agents believe 110 pounds of cocaine they seized
this week in west Greensboro would have ended up in the hands of Triad drug
users.

And once it was cut into 50,000 single-gram doses of powered cocaine -- or
five times that many rocks of crack -- the street value would have been
about $5 million, said Capt. Al Stewart Jr. of the Greensboro Police
Department's vice/narcotics division.

But because of a tip -- something Stewart would describe in no more detail
than "confidential information" -- agents confiscated the drugs Tuesday and
arrested three people in a bust believed to be the largest single cocaine
seizure in the city's history. The arrests were announced Thursday.

"It won't stop drug use in Greensboro, but it certainly hurt some drug
dealers. It's been a real financial blow," Stewart said. "I think they were
wholesaling it out of the house. I imagine it was going to stay in the
Piedmont Triad."

Facing trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy charges are Javier Salgado
Diaz, 22, of 601-5F Friendway Drive in Greensboro; Mario Castro, 34, of
Atlanta; and Jarol Noelia-Matta, 25, of Atlanta. Stewart described them as
"upper-level drug dealers."

Drug agents began surveying Diaz's Grand Summit apartment Tuesday morning
and had enough evidence that afternoon to get a search warrant. They
discovered 11 pounds -- or 5 kilograms -- inside a vehicle at the apartment
complex. Another 99 pounds -- or 45 kilos -- were found inside a storage
unit they had leased near the intersection of West Market Street and
Chimney Rock Road, Stewart said.

The powdered cocaine was packaged in 1 kilogram bricks, police said.

Neighbors returning home from work Thursday hadn't heard the news and were
surprised something like this would happen in their quiet apartment complex.

"That's exactly why I moved here. You hope to get away from crazy stuff
like this," said Paul Barbot, who lives a few doors away. "You don't want
the guy next to you selling 100 pounds of cocaine. The thing that disturbs
me the most is that it's at your house. You could have had a bad deal. What
if something had gone bad?"

Barbot and other neighbors said Diaz moved in last fall and didn't appear
to work regular hours.

"They had a lot of company. I thought they were throwing parties," Barbot
said. "And he had the largest big screen TV I've ever seen. I thought, 'How
can that guy afford that?'"

Though the bust was the city's largest, there have been larger amounts of
cocaine discovered in tractor-trailers traveling through southern Guilford
County near Interstate 85. Troopers seized about 1,700 pounds in December
1992, 220 pounds in December 1994 and 385 pounds in October 1995.

"I still think it's a significant seizure for the city by the shear
quantity that was seized," said Bill Woessner, resident agent in charge of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Greensboro's office. "I'm just
not sure how long it will last."

DEA agents worked with Greensboro officers on the case.

The three suspects face state charges, but may be transferred to federal
court for prosecution. Meanwhile, they are each being held on $4.5 million
bond in the Guilford County jail. Additional arrests are not expected, but
the investigation continues.

Contact Amy Wolfford at 373-7008 or awolfford@news-record.com