GEORGIA — Federal authorities say more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine were seized in two separate drug busts in DeKalb County, leading to the arrest of five men.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced Monday that Wilber Castellanos Villazana, Yamilet Calixto Sotelo, Jorge Lorenzo Manzanarez, Esteban Jacobo-Suarez, and Damien Gomez-Guijarro have been charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. All are in federal custody.
DEA officials said Jacobo-Suarez had been deported from the U.S. twice, while Villazana, Sotelo, and Manzanarez are believed to have entered the country illegally.
The arrests followed undercover drug buys in DeKalb County on Sept. 15 and Sept. 17. After the second transaction, agents conducted searches that uncovered 10 kilograms of meth in a car, along with 131 kilograms, a firearm, and $12,000 in cash at a residence.
Officials said most of the methamphetamine displayed at a Monday press conference was seized from an apartment in DeKalb County. The DEA believes the drugs are connected to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG.
“The CJNG cartel is a significant threat to public safety, public health, and the national security of the United States,” said Robert Murphy, special agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “DEA will target every level of their supply chain to disrupt and destroy their networks.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is prosecuting the case.
