DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A Carrollton woman has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges tied to a large-scale methamphetamine trafficking operation that authorities say moved hundreds of pounds of drugs throughout metro Atlanta.
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Jackelyne Marroquin, 33, of Carrollton, pleaded guilty to possessing with the intent to distribute more than 760 pounds of methamphetamine and harboring illegal aliens to facilitate drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
Federal prosecutors say Marroquin rented a home in Stone Mountain in March 2024 that was used as a stash house to store and distribute meth for a drug trafficking organization. Investigators determined the drugs were smuggled into the United States from Mexico, concealed in bags of charcoal.
During the investigation, agents found buckets of methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), a dietary supplement commonly used by drug traffickers to dilute meth, at multiple stash houses, including the Stone Mountain home.
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On April 2, 2024, the DEA and local law enforcement executed a search warrant at the home, inside agents discovered 760 pounds of meth that was 99% pure, with an estimated street value of $1.45 million to $1.9 million.
Authorities found two men from Mexico, Jonathan Guzman Esquivel and Alfonso Calderon-Rodriguez, who had been living in the home and distributing drugs from the home. Investigators described the house as sparsely furnished and coated in charcoal dust. Prosecutors say Marroquin provided the men with housing and money for expenses to support the drug operation.
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“Marroquin harbored illegal aliens to operate a metro-Atlanta drug distribution ring,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “As a result of unwavering law enforcement dedication, this insidious trafficking network has been dismantled, and well over a million dollars’ worth of lethal drugs have been removed from our streets.
Marroquin is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23 at 10 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg.
Jonathan Guzman Esquivel, 34, and Alfonso Calderon-Rodriguez, 30, both of Uruapan, Mexico, previously pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances and were each sentenced in the fall of 2024 to serve five years and ten months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.