Feds find huge stash of meth in storage facility

Federal authorities have seized more than 325 pounds of methamphetamine from a Norcross storage facility, the Department of Justice announced,

Drug Enforcement Administration agents had Mexican national Marco Cueto-Rosales under surveillance when they saw him go into into the storage unit and move items around in plastic bins and trash bags.

A K9 unit from the Gwinnett County Police Department later detected the scent of narcotics, leading to a federal search warrant and the discovery of the methamphetamine on Oct. 10.

“Although the Mexican cartels stockpile and peddle their poison in our community, the quick actions of law enforcement thankfully took these deadly drugs off the streets,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said. “This operation is about more than drugs – it’s about protecting families and giving our communities a chance to live free from the violence and addiction that meth brings,” said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.

The subsequent search, authorized by a federal warrant, uncovered nearly 1,500 rectangular packages of methamphetamine weighing 325 pounds.

Cueto-Rosales, 47, of Malinalco, Mexico, was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Regina D. Cannon on Oct. 28 on federal charges of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative aimed at eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations.