Gwinnett County

Mother, sons arrested after $1M worth of meth found in Gwinnett home, police say

By Tony Thomas, WSB-TV
By Tony Thomas, WSB-TV

NORCROSS, Ga. — Authorities say they've busted part of a large-scale drug ring that used a mother and her two sons as couriers.

In a recent court hearing, San Juana Barerra sat next to her two sons still insisting she had no idea her sons were hauling drugs on their family outing from Texas.

“Cresencio said he brought her along because he wanted it to look like a family car so that way he wouldn't get pulled over,” T.C. Joseph, an investigator with the Gwinnett County Police Department, said.

The two sons and their mother are charged with delivering drugs to a Norcross home after hiding the crystal meth in the tires of their SUV. The mother claims she was just along for a ride

“This was all a set up to make it look like something legitimate. It's certainly reasonable to assume these two sons are going to give their mom a piece of a fairly large pie if they get away with this,” prosecutor Bobby Wolf said.

TRENDING STORIES:

Berrera and sons, Alex and Cresencio, are charged with drug trafficking after drug agents say they intercepted phone calls talking about the delivery and then found 18 kilos of crystal meth along with 3 gallons of liquid meth inside the Norcross home.

“It was located in the kitchen, in the living room, in the garage,” Joseph said. 

The DEA told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas that the drugs are worth more than $1 million.  

Investigators say Cresencio confessed to the crime, but defense lawyers for the family insist since agents had never been in the house before, they don't know how much of the drugs were there before the family arrived.  

“So there could have been 18,000 grams already there. There could have been 3,000 grams already there,” attorney Michael Marr told Thomas. 

The three remain in the Gwinnett County Jail, where they are being held without bond.

The DEA told Thomas on Monday, so far, there have been no other arrests in connection with the bust, although the suspects weren't the actual targets of the larger investigation. 

Cox Media Group

Most Read