A Mexican national is facing federal drug trafficking charges after being apprehended driving a van containing more than 440 pounds of methamphetamine in metro Atlanta.
According to federal authorities, Gerardo Miranda Mendoza, 57, had already been convicted of offenses and deported from the United States twice before his most recent arrest.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia reported that law enforcement discovered Mendoza and another individual meeting in the parking lot of a Stonecrest business. According to investigators, Mendoza arrived in a van and entered the store. While inside, the other man allegedly drove the van to a Conyers warehouse, threw trash bags into it, and then returned it to the parking lot, where Mendoza took possession.
A Georgia State Patrol trooper stopped the van shortly after. Officials said officers uncovered approximately 440 pounds of methamphetamine in the trash bags.
According to authorities, Mendoza was previously convicted of trafficking prohibited narcotics in California in 1998 and of conspiracy to distribute crystal methamphetamine in 2009. He was most recently deported in 2027.
“Despite two prior drug trafficking convictions and subsequent deportations, Mendoza allegedly returned illegally and attempted to traffic a massive amount of methamphetamine in our community,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “As a result of the tireless efforts and dedication of the Homeland Security Task Force, Mendoza now faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in federal prison, and nearly a quarter-ton of deadly methamphetamine has been taken off the street.”
Mendoza is now facing charges of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with the purpose to distribute and illegal reentry of a previously expelled immigrant. He remains in the custody of the United States Marshals Service without bail.
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