Traffic stop leads agents to doorstep of suspects and multi-million dollar meth lab
More than $3 million in crystal methamphetamine was seized and a multi-million dollar drug dealing operation in North Georgia dismantled following a traffic stop Friday in Lumpkin County.
Local, state and federal agents combined efforts in a “short but effective” investigation that stretched from Dahlonega in Lumpkin to Suches in Union County, Georgia. It began with a traffic stop on suspects Angel Luis Rivera-Santiago and Victor Rafael Aponte, says Mitchell Posey of the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO). He says officers seized 15 kilograms of methamphetamine from the two men.
This short but effective investigation was a federal, state, and local partnership that disrupted and dismantled a drug distribution network’s attempt to flood our communities with this destructive drug for their own financial gain.
“During the subsequent investigation, Lumpkin County authorities and FBI Agents executed a search warrant at 990 Flanders Road, Dahlonega, Georgia,” Posey says. “Valentine Duarte-Vejar ran from this residence but was captured in the possession of a handgun.” He says the search yielded a few grams of cocaine and $166,000.
As the investigation unfolded, agents continued to follow leads until a conversion lab was located at 843 Cooper Creek Road in Suches, Georgia. Conversion labs are used to convert liquid methamphetamine to its crystal form. Posey says agents located a handgun and 15 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at the lab.
ARDEO Agents processed approximately 300 pounds of environmental waste largely containing methamphetamine oil.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office, EMS, and Fire Department assisted with dismantling the lab. Officials estimate the lab was capable of producing a minimum of 25-50 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine at a time. The street value of the 30 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine that was seized is $3,234,000.
“This short but effective investigation was a federal, state, and local partnership that disrupted and dismantled a drug distribution network’s attempt to flood our communities with this destructive drug for their own financial gain,” says Posey.
42-year-old Angel Luis Rivera-Santiago of Norcross; 30-year-old Victor Rafael Aponte of Dahlonega and 25-year-old Valentine Duarte-Vejar, also of Dahlonega, are charged with trafficking methamphetamine.
29-year-old Eleoncio Perez-Pineda and 25-year-old Jose Mario Duarte-Vejar, both of Dahlonega, were later arrested in Dahlonega and charged with conspiracy to manufactore methamphetamine.
All five were transported to the Lumpkin County Detention Center. Posey says the immigration status of the suspects is still pending. Additional charges are pending in Union County. The investigation continues.
