DEA Atlanta Seizes 2,500 Pounds of Methamphetamine Concealed in Celery Shipment

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta Division seized more than 2,500 pounds of crystal meth hidden among boxes of celery in the back of a truck during a sweep of the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Georgia last week, the agency said.

The official weight of the crystal meth was 2,585 pounds.

Officers arrested the driver of the truck, Jesus Martinez Martinez, after they said they discovered more than 1,000 pounds of meth hidden among boxes of celery in the back of the truck.

“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.”

The wholesale value of this seizure is approximately $3.2 million.

“This is the largest meth bust we’ve ever had here at DEA Atlanta, and the third largest bust this year,” Murphy said at a news conference. That’s especially significant because Georgia is not a border state. He said the agency received a tip that led them to a truck crossing the Mexican border.

According to multiple news sources at the conference, Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said the celery was destroyed after the raid because it was possibly contaminated with meth. Harper noted that agricultural imports can be seen by cartels as an easy way to smuggle drugs into the U.S.

“DEA’s highest operational priority is to defeat the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels – the two drug cartels responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl and methamphetamine that kill Americans,” the DEA said in a news release.

The investigation is ongoing, but authorities have indicated that the drugs will be tested and sent to a lab, but they suspect that it is pure methamphetamine.