HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Two men are heading to federal prison after being convicted of hiding hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine among cucumbers.
Last year, Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes was at the DEA headquarters in DeKalb County as officials described finding 700 pounds of individually wrapped packages of meth tied to the cartel hidden in the creases of cardboard boxes carrying cucumbers.
Officials say the approximate street value was $4.5 million.
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DEA Special Agent Jae Chung told Fernandes the huge drug seizure started with a tip, and that turned into a traffic stop in Gainesville.
Rufino Pineda-Perez, 61, and Andres Jasso, Jr., 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute meth. Pineda-Perez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, also pleaded guilty to illegally reentering the country after previously being removed.
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“The defendants attempted to conceal an astonishing amount of deadly methamphetamine in a cucumber shipment, but the diligent and strategic efforts of law enforcement partners uncovered their ruse,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “As a result, Pineda-Perez, a twice-convicted and twice-deported felon, and Jasso, Jr. will now serve substantial time in federal prison with no possibility of parole.”
Both were sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.
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