Federal agents seize over 1,000 pounds of meth in Georgia drug bust tied to Mexican cartel, DEA says
Federal agents have seized more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine in Georgia after a series of undercover drug deals linked to a violent Mexican cartel, authorities said Monday.
Five people, including four Mexican nationals in the country illegally, have been arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said the defendants attempted to sell meth to undercover DEA agents during multiple transactions in DeKalb County and Stone Mountain earlier this month. Investigators later discovered hundreds of kilograms of drugs stashed in an apartment and a nearby home.
"My office will continue to proudly partner with federal, state, and local crimefighters to protect the public and eliminate the scourge of drug trafficking," Hertzberg said in a statement.
Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division, called the CJNG cartel "a significant threat to public safety, public health, and the national security of the United States," adding that the DEA will work to disrupt and destroy its networks.
According to prosecutors:
- On Sept. 15, Wilber Castellanos Villazana allegedly sold a kilogram of meth to an undercover agent at an apartment complex in DeKalb County. Agents later found 22 kilograms of meth in a car and 309 kilograms inside an apartment.
On Sept. 17, Esteban Jacobo-Suarez and Damien Gomez-Guijarro allegedly sold a kilogram of meth at a gas station near Stone Mountain. Agents later recovered 10 kilograms from a car and 131 kilograms, a firearm, and about $12,000 in cash from a nearby home.
The five defendants: Castellanos Villazana, 38; Yamilet Calixto Sotelo, 22; Jorge Lorenzo Manzanarez, 35; Jacobo-Suarez, 44; and Gomez-Guijarro, 32, are Mexican citizens. Prosecutors said Jacobo-Suarez had been deported twice before. Each of the men was charged on Sept. 19 in federal criminal complaints.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative aimed at dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
