Federal authorities found 351 pounds of meth hidden in the walls of 2 Duluth, GA homes on Wednesday, a drug stash that would have reaped tens of millions of dollars on the street. The recent meth bust in Gwinnett County is the largest seizure of Mexican crystal methamphetamine that’s ever been recorded east of the Mississippi River.
Rodney Benson, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field reported that the homes were sparsely furnished, which he says is typical of homes being used by drug traffickers. No guns were found in the homes, that were situated in a quiet, suburban neighborhood. The neighbors and the owner of the homes didn’t realize that the renters were drug dealers.
Four Mexican nationals living in Duluth were arrested including Fernando Chavez-Chavez, 28; Luis Naranjo-Leon, 23; Gerardo Antonio Urena Esquivel, 35; and Jose Raphael Lopez-Jimenez, 34. They will be charged with drug trafficking in Gwinnett County Court. Three of the four suspects were living in the U.S. illegally.
According to the Associated Press “Over the last several years, the Atlanta area, and especially suburban Gwinnett County, has become a major drug distribution hub for Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Drugs are brought across the southwest border and along the interstates to Atlanta, where they are processed into the final product and repackaged. The traffickers tend to compartmentalize their operations so a bust doesn’t bring down their whole operation.”
Sources:
Brumback, Kate, “Biggest meth seizure in eastern US made in Atlanta”, 5/13/09, AP, http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hnciPRoTgJijN5dZfhxP0z35Os6QD985GI482
Hyman, Mark, “Four snared in Major Meth Bust”, My Fox Atlanta. com, 5/13/09,http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/top_stories/3_Snared_in_Major_Meth_Bust_Near_Duluth_051309
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