Thanks to a combined effort of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lawrenceville Police Department, East Point Police, and the Georgia State Patrol four Mexican nationals have been arrested in Gwinnett County, GA this week for their connection to a Mexican drug cartel. These illegal aliens were found with 5 million dollars worth of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin laced with fentanyl as well as $850,000 in cash and weapons located in a storehouse in the metro Atlanta area.
According to NBC 11 Alive, DEA Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy said the investigation into the cartel started last year. Friday's drug bust of the men's home occurred after a tip came in on Thursday evening.
via NBC 11
"The investigation into a Mexican cartel began in 2017 and Murphy said it was the collaboration between several departments that made the arrest and then search warrant possible.
Agents were working surveillance on what they described as a tire shop on Metropolitan Pkwy in Atlanta when they saw two vehicles leave. One was a U-Haul and the other was a Nissan.
They followed the U-Haul to East Point where officers pulled it over. Murphy said that's where they found the meth.
They followed the Nissan to Lawrenceville where officers pulled it over. After arresting the suspects in the car, they secured a search warrant for a home. Inside they said they found heroin and money inside a false wall."
According to Murphy, one of the illegals is a previously deported convicted felon while two others have ICE detainers. Although authorities know which cartel these men were working for, they declined to comment which organization was responsible for this massive drug load. Murphy said it was “very large cartel" and “We know who they are, we just don’t want to (say) who they are. But we’re getting ready to take them down.”
“That’s $5 million in drugs on the table and nearly $1 million in cash (from Thursday’s raid),” Murphy added. “There’s going to be some explaining to do.”