By Shelley Smith
ssmith@salisburypost.com
STATESVILLE ó Three men arrested in February following the second-largest methamphetamine bust in Rowan County history were indicted in federal court April 21, according to information released Monday by the Rowan County Sheriffís Office.
Hildeberto Gonzalez-Chavez, ěBeetle,î 30, of 122 Cypress Lane, Edgar Santana, 22, of Duluth, Ga., and Cesar Sierro-Pineda, 33, of Duluth, Ga., were each charged with methamphetamine drug conspiracy. Sierro-Pineda was additionally charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Gonzalez-Chavez is currently in the Rowan County jail waiting for a transfer to federal custody, Sierro-Pineda is in custody in Gwinnett County, Ga., pending transfer to federal custody, and Santana was arrested in Salisbury April 27, and is in federal custody in Charlotte. Santana also had a bond hearing Monday.
The two-year investigation found that Gonzalez-Chavez was not only supplying drugs to a customer in Wilkes County for more than 10 years but was also part of one of the largest meth rings on the east coast that was dismantled after authorities searched the apartment of Sierro-Pineda in Duluth, Ga.
Officers said they watched Gonzalez-Chavez meet with another person in China Grove on Feb. 24; the two then drove in separate vehicles to 115 Westhaven Way.
When Gonzalez-Chavez left the home and stopped to get gas on U.S. 152, law enforcement officers confronted and searched him.
Authorities said they found 1.75 pounds of methamphetamine ice, the most addictive and potent form of methamphetamine, in the vehicle. That was estimated to have a street value of about $100,000. Gonzalez-Chavez was arrested and charged with trafficking more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.
Santana was driving about a mile ahead of Gonzalez-Chavez, and authorities stopped him.
Rowan County Sheriffís Office Detective Lt. Chad Moose said Santana had delivered the methamphetamine to Gonzalez-Chavez. Santana was charged with trafficking more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.
Information led authorities to Sierro-Pineda in Duluth, Ga., where a methamphetamine ice conversion lab was found in his apartment, and authorities evacuated the entire building.
One of the largest ever found, the lab contained about 5 gallons of liquid methamphetamine ó enough to produce 44 pounds of methamphetamine ice, with a wholesale value of more than $1 million, authorities said.
Authorities said the three men transported large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana from the Texas-Mexico border to Atlanta, and then to Rowan County.