DEA seizes $3.2m in meth from Mexican cartel hidden in celery at Georgia farmer’s market

‘Obviously, we threw away the celery’ said Robert J Murphy, special agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta Division

Investigators seized a massive shipment of methamphetamine weighing 2,585 pounds that was hidden among boxes of celery at a Georgia farmer’s market, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced.

The drugs, worth an estimated $3.2m, constitute the largest bust in the history of the DEA’s Atlanta office.

“This is a significant and unbelievable amount of drugs to be shipped at one time and to a destination this far from the border,” Robert J. Murphy, special agent in charge of the DEA Atlanta Division, said in a statement. “It also shows the confidence of the cartel behind this.”

Officials got a tip that a shipment of drugs was coming across the border in a 16-wheel truck and intercepted the meth at Clayton County’s Atlanta State Farmers Market on August 8.

"Most of these kind of seizures happen on a border or port of entry, and we’re several states away from a border," Murphy said at a press conference after the seizure.

Two police cars sit parked by a load of seized methamphetamine found at the Atlanta State Farmers Market on August 8, 2024. (DEA)

“Obviously, we threw away the celery,” he added. “That didn’t make it to the store.”

Police have arrested a Mexican national, Jesus Martinez Martinez, 40, in connection with the case.

He’s been charged with trafficking meth and is being held in DeKalb County jail without bond, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Officials vowed to go after people using the food supply chain to move drugs.

"It is the produce terminal for the United States and if drugs are moving through there, there is a possibility of contamination, and we know that, so it’s important we keep our consumers safe," Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper said after the bust.

"We’re sending this message loud and clear to those who want to use agriculture as a means to an end, as a cover for criminal activity…you will be caught; you will be prosecuted, and you will go to prison.”

Investigators continue to investigate how the drugs made it to Georgia.

News of the Georgia bust follows another high-profile drug discovery.

Boaters off the coast of Florida found a 56-pound package of cocaine worth $625,000 that had been in the water so long it was covered in barnacles.