A Shelton man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking and laundering proceeds in Virginia, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Hatem S. Salem, 56, was sentenced on Friday for importing GBL, a precursor to the “date-rape” drug GHB, into Virginia from China.
From August 2024 to January, authorities said they made controlled purchases of cocaine, ketamine, MDMA, and more than 100 grams of meth from Salem.
A search of Salem’s Shelton home yielded 151 grams of meth, 626 grams of cocaine, varying amounts of ketamine, MDMA, and LSD, bottles containing GBL and GHB, and 157 cartons containing approximately 1,200 liters of suspected GBL in the basement.
Officials also discovered a lab in Salem’s shed, which contained drugs and equipment for producing GHB.
A financial examination indicated that Salem laundered roughly $370,000 in cash and $171,500 in bitcoin from his drug contacts.
Salem has already been convicted on narcotics-related offenses in 1999, 2005, and 2015.
Salem was sentenced to 20 years in jail for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, conspiracy to import GBL with the intent to produce GHB, and concealment of money laundering.
