Pubdate: Wed, 24 Apr 2002
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2002 Cox Interactive Media.
Contact:  http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Chandler Brown, Staff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CONYERS BUST NETS $8 MILLION IN DRUGS

Federal agents have seized 7,500 pounds of marijuana and 53 pounds of 
cocaine, together worth $8 million, in a bust they say should cripple a 
drug smuggling ring.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents also say they found $1.3 million in 
cash in a Conyers home that they allege was a regional drop-off point for a 
Mexican drug cartel.

Arrested were Jose Francisco Hernandez-Padilla, 18, of Conyers; Alfonso 
Longoria, 22, of Edinburg, Texas; and Ruben Briseno, 54, of Tucson, Ariz., 
DEA officials said. Each was charged with felony intent to distribute a 
controlled substance and was being held in the Rockdale County Jail 
awaiting arraignment today in federal court in Atlanta.

Authorities say a truck was loaded with drugs in Mexico on Friday, and the 
cargo was discovered hidden inside concrete planters during a routine check 
in Texas. Agents say they tracked the truck until it stopped at a Home 
Depot store in Conyers on Sunday before being driven to a Conyers 
warehouse, where the drugs were seized Monday.

The seizure of both drugs and cash should disable the ring, said DEA 
Special Agent John Andrejko "It really makes a dent in their operation," he 
said.
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