ATLANTA — The DEA’s Atlanta Division has arrested 48 individuals linked to the Sinaloa Cartel and seized significant quantities of fentanyl in a major crackdown.
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The operation, part of a national effort targeting the Sinaloa Cartel, highlighted Metro Atlanta’s role as a major hub for Mexican drug cartels.
DEA agents seized nearly 8 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 5,000 fentanyl pills, which are among the deadliest drugs on the streets.
“We arrested 48 individuals linked to the Sinaloa cartel,” said Robert Murphy, DEA Special Agent in Charge for the Atlanta Division.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg stated that Alexis Carreon Bocanegra, a Mexican national, was arrested and is being prosecuted for possessing firearms and fentanyl at his home.
The Sinaloa Cartel, described as one of Mexico’s most violent and prolific drug trafficking organizations, is active in the Northern District of Georgia.
The DEA’s operation aimed to dismantle the cartel’s network.
“Stash houses, distribution points, money collectors. We tried to hit the whole of the organization that was operating here. We had developed information throughout the year,” Murphy said.
Murphy added a guilty plea by Sinaloa cofounder Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as “El Mayo,” was the jewel in the crown of the August crackdown.
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