TWO ARRESTS FUEL FEARS OF DRUG INFILTRATION

Southeast Ky. Could Be Target Area For Traffickers

LONDON - Two major methamphetamine seizures in three weeks have authorities
concerned that an outside meth cartel may be trying to move into Southeast
Kentucky.

On Aug. 9, police arrested three men in Williamsburg who were attempting to
take delivery of 16 pounds of meth, a highly addictive stimulant. This
week, police seized 29 pounds of meth in London and charged three people
with transporting it from Southern California for distribution.

Before this month, most meth cases in the area involved an ounce or less
that had been produced locally, typically in homemade labs.

The two big meth shipments from out of state could indicate that large
traffickers who operate "superlabs" in Mexico or the southwest United
States are moving into the area, either to try to take over the market or
to establish a base to distribute meth in other states.

"It's raising our concern," said Michael Pelonero, resident agent in charge
of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in London.

The DEA investigated both of the recent large seizures and made arrests
with support from other federal, state and local police.

The first case grew out of a traffic stop in Arizona, in which police found
just over 16 pounds of meth bound for Kentucky. The DEA turned the delivery
into a sting, arresting Calvin Dawson, his son James Dawson, and Bobby
Lovell, all of Rockcastle County, when they showed up in Williamsburg to
get the shipment. All three have been charged with conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute meth and marijuana.

The second big seizure grew out of a DEA investigation in Southern California.

An informant there told federal drug agents that a large meth manufacturer
named Eduardo "Lalo" Perez-Hernandez had made several shipments of the drug
from his ranch outside San Diego to the London-Corbin area and was planning
another large shipment, according to a sworn statement from Fred J. Baker,
a DEA special agent in the London office.

Baker testified at a hearing yesterday that Dale Clinton Lewis, 40, and his
girlfriend Tammy Davidson, 34, both of Knox County, went to
Perez-Hernandez's ranch last week to pick up the shipment.

Lewis, with Davidson as passenger, brought the load back to Kentucky in a
dog box in the back of his Ford pickup truck while the informant and Jose
Salazar-Peliego, 34, followed in a Chevrolet Suburban. Salazar-Peliego, of
Puebla, Mexico, was to make deliveries of the drug and collect for past
shipments, Baker said.

The four "drove more or less straight through" to Kentucky from San Diego,
Baker said, arriving early Aug. 26. The DEA kept tabs on the shipment with
a tracking device on the Suburban and through surveillance, including from
the air.

Police arrested Lewis, Davidson and Salazar-Peliego on Aug. 26.

They are charged with conspiring to possess and distribute methamphetamine.
Because of the large amount of the drug involved, they face maximum
sentences of 10 years to life if convicted.

There have also been arrests in California related to the case and more
arrests are expected in the London area, said Assistant U.S. Attorney
Stephen C. Smith.

Methamphetamine production and trafficking has mushroomed in Kentucky in
recent years as the drug spread from California and across the Midwest into
the Eastern United States.

In 2001, for instance, the Kentucky State Police investigated 156 meth labs
in Kentucky, said Lt. Lisa Rudzinski of the KSP. This year, the number
could double; state police had investigated 174 labs as of July 31.