The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Atlanta made a seizure of methamphetamine at a farmers market in Clayton County, where a Mexican cartel was planning to make a drug delivery.
DEA authorities also say it is the largest seizure in the history of their division, with more than 2,000 pounds recovered.
The mission was part of a multi-agency law enforcement effort that prevented $3 million worth of methamphetamine from reaching U.S. streets.
Federal officials say the drugs were hidden inside a shipment of produce being delivered to a farmers market in Forest Park.
“This is the largest methamphetamine seizure in DEA Atlanta and the third largest total methamphetamine seizure in the entire DEA,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy.
Authorities said a ton of methamphetamine, which was to be sold across the Southeast, no longer poses a threat to communities following the massive bust.
“We received information about a tractor-trailer that was crossing the border into Mexico,” Murphy said.
Murphy says officers found 2,380 pounds of methamphetamine inside a tractor-trailer that was scheduled to be delivered to the Atlanta State Farmers Market.
“This was in a bag of celery… It was hidden in the celery. Obviously, we threw the celery away. It didn’t make it to the store,” Murphy said.
In this regard, Jesús Martínez, originally from Mexico, was arrested, Fox News reported.
Methamphetamine is worth $3 million wholesale, but Murphy says it would sell for much more on the street.
“Most of these types of seizures occur at a border or port of entry, and we are several states from a border,” Murphy said.
“This cartel was very confident in what they were doing by sending so much at once,” Murphy added.
The DEA said the cartels’ use of agricultural products to hide drugs has become more common in illegal smuggling operations, making the Forest Park farmers market an easy target.
“This is the terminal for agricultural products in the United States and if drugs are coming through there is the potential for contamination and we know that, so it’s important that we keep our consumers safe,” said Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper.
Harper says that’s why he reinstated the agency’s law enforcement division last year after it was disbanded under the previous administration.
“We are sending this message loud and clear to those who want to use agriculture as a means to an end, as a cover for criminal activity… they will be caught, they will be prosecuted and they will go to prison,” Harper said.
Officials say the methamphetamine will need to be analyzed and sent to a lab, but at this time, he says the drug was pure.
Continue reading:
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