Multiple agencies involved in investigation leading to drug suspect’s arrest

Published 2:41 pm Thursday, May 25, 2023

SALISBURY — A drug suspect who quickly met his $250,000 secured bond is now being held in the Rowan County Detention Center after that initial bond was revoked. Multiple agencies were involved in an investigation that turned up drugs, cash, phones and stolen firearms.

On Thursday, May 18, warrants were issued for Aaron Dominique Wilks charging him with trafficking in opium/heroin, felony conspiracy, possession with intent to sell/deliver a Schedule I controlled substance and two counts of maintaining a vehicle/dwelling to keep/store a controlled substance. The charges were the result of an investigation conducted by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of the Salisbury Police Department, State Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security Investigations.

On Tuesday, May 23, Wilks was located and apprehended at his residence in Charlotte. The arrest was made by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT), the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation Criminal Apprehension Team (CAT), and the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Apprehension Team (SOCAT). Wilks was transported to the Rowan County Magistrate’s Office where he was placed under a $250,000 secured bond, which he quickly made.

After he was arrested, personnel from the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the Wilks’ residence. During the crime scene search conducted by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit and SOCAT, $16,949 in cash and a small amount of marijuana, a loaded handgun magazine and cellular telephones were seized.

During a court hearing in Rowan County District Court on Wednesday, May 24, his bond was revoked. He was placed under a $1 million secured bond and is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center.

During a related investigation conducted by the Salisbury Police Department on Tuesday, May 23, a search warrant was executed in a rental unit at Public Storage located at 1730 Jake Alexander Blvd West and eight firearms were recovered: four handguns, three rifles and one shotgun, which was reported stolen from a breaking and entering on May 24, 2022, at the Ammo Shack Hunting and Shooting store in Rockingham. One of the handguns was also reported as stolen from Rowan County on Nov. 26, 2021.

The joint investigations are continuing.