Federal agents seize 440 pounds of meth in Conyers traffic stop
Meth seized by federal agents. (Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia)
CONYERS, Ga. - Federal authorities charged a twice-deported man after law enforcement seized more than 440 pounds of methamphetamine during a targeted traffic stop in Conyers, federal officials announced.
Massive Conyers meth seizure
What we know:
Federal authorities arrested 57-year-old Gerardo Miranda Mendoza after investigators watched a weekend drug exchange unfold across two metro Atlanta locations.
According to court filings presented by U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, task force agents watched Mendoza and another individual meet in separate vehicles Saturday at a store parking lot in Stonecrest.
Mendoza stepped inside the store while the second person took Mendoza's van to a warehouse in Conyers.
The other person packed trash bags filled with narcotics into the vehicle, returned it to Stonecrest, and walked away before Mendoza got back behind the wheel.
A Georgia State Patrol trooper pulled the van over for a traffic violation a short time later and discovered roughly 440 pounds of methamphetamine stashed in trash bags.
Prior convictions and deportations
The backstory:
Mendoza, of Morelia, Mexico, has a history of major drug convictions in both federal and state courts.
Investigators confirmed Mendoza was convicted of transporting controlled substances in California in 1998 and conspiracy to distribute crystal methamphetamine in federal court in 2009.
Authorities deported him following both convictions, most recently sending him back to Mexico in Nov. 2017.
What's next:
Mendoza appeared Monday in federal court on charges of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute and illegal reentry by a previously removed alien.
A federal judge ordered him held without bond in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service while Assistant U.S. Attorney Drew Waldbeser leads the prosecution.
Authorities noted that a criminal complaint contains only allegations, and Mendoza is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
What we don't know:
Officials have not yet publicly identified the second individual who drove the van to the Conyers warehouse and loaded the drugs.
Authorities also have not disclosed where the 440-pound shipment originated or whether additional arrests are expected in connection with the warehouse.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg and federal court records provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia, as well as statements from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.