Pubdate: Fri, 30 Aug 2002
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2002 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact:  http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Bill Estep, South-Central Kentucky Bureau
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

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.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager