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.