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Whoops, they did it again. Smugglers have once again tried and failed to sneak illegal drugs into the United States only to be foiled by federal authorities.
We can now add celery to the ever-growing list of vegetable shipments that drug smugglers have attempted to conceal drugs inside that already includes lettuce, cucumbers and bell peppers, squash, and tomatillos.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents announced on Monday that it had made the third-largest seizure of methamphetamine this year and the largest-ever seizure of meth by the DEA in Atlanta.
Over one ton of meth, worth more than $3 million in wholesale value, were seized by DEA agents and local law enforcement at the Atlanta State Farmers Market.
Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said Georgia is a “produce terminal for the southeastern United States, and if drugs are moving through there, there is a possibility for food contamination.”
“DEA developed information which led us to the state farmers market in Clayton County,” DEA Atlanta Special Agent Robert Murphy said at a press conference. “This was contained within a cover load of celery. That was what was hiding it. Obviously, we threw away the celery. So there’s no concerns of buying celery at the grocery store. That stuff didn’t make it to the store.”
Murphy said a Mexican citizen was arrested for allegedly bringing the drugs across the border and that the DEA is working to identify which cartel was responsible for the shipment.
“Our goal is to take down the whole cartel that’s responsible for this,” Murphy said. “This represents what I would call a confidence load, since this cartel is very confident in what they’ve been doing to send this much at one time. It suggests how powerful and how big this cartel is and obviously needs our attention further.”