Truck driver with ties to Mexican drug cartel arrested in massive crystal meth bust

ATLANTA (TND) — A record seizure of almost 1,360 kilos of crystal methamphetamine was made.

Agents with the U.S. Drug and Enforcement Association seized 2,585 pounds of illegal drugs on August 8.

More than a ton of methamphetamine worth $3.2 million was discovered at a farmers market in Atlanta, Georgia.

Federal officials said Jesus Martinez, a truck driver, was arrested in connection with the alleged drug smuggling case.

The meth was found in boxes of celery.

“This was in a shipment of celery,” said Robert Murphy, special agent with the DEA Atlanta. “It was hidden in the celery. Obviously, we threw the celery away. That didn’t make it to the store.”

The Georgia Department of Agriculture posted on social media after the raid that “criminal activity in our agricultural industry will not be tolerated.”

According to DEA Atlanta, Martinez was a member of a Mexican cartel.

The crystal methamphetamine entered the US through the southern border.

The origin of the seizure is currently unknown.

“This is a significant and incredible amount of drugs to be shipped at one time and to a destination so far from the border,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division. “It also shows the confidence of the cartel behind this.

It is the largest methamphetamine seizure ever by the DEA in Atlanta and the third-largest nationwide in 2024.

The drug agency indicated that defeating the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels is its highest operational priority.

The two drug cartels responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl and methamphetamine that kill Americans.