ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
Two Texas men are being held under $50,000 bonds in Wythe County after a sheriff's deputy said he found an estimated 40 to 50 pounds of marijuana in their van.
Sheriff Wayne Pike said a member of his department's highway safety unit pulled the van over Monday on Interstate 81 because it was being driven erratically. The occupants had been on the road from Texas since early the previous morning and were probably weaving because of fatigue, he said.
The deputy became suspicious when the pair refused to consent to a search. He called for backup and a drug-sniffing dog. Pike said the dog immediately ferreted out the two containers of marijuana.
A semiautomatic pistol was also found in the van. The two men, both of whom have many aliases, are charged with transporting illegal drugs into Virginia, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, carrying a concealed weapon and possessing a weapon after being convicted of felonies. Pike said the weapon charges will be turned over to federal authorities for prosecution.
This is the third van in the past 12 months stopped in Wythe County and found to be transporting drugs, Pike said. But he said these probably represent only a fraction of the illegal drugs passing through the county on interstate highways.
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