Police discover Forest Park 'stash house,' 4 arrested

By Larry Hartstein and Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A traffic stop Saturday afternoon led police to a Forest Park "stash house" where four men were storing 11 kilos of cocaine and five pounds of methamphetamine, Clayton County police said.

All four men, including the driver who was stopped, were arrested on drug trafficking charges. Their names are Garcia Ramiro Ramirez, Jose Calderon, Jorge Arriola-Camareno, and Gonzalo Zambrano.

Police seized the drugs, valued at more than $400,000, and three cars, said Officer India Smith, a police spokeswoman.

About 2 p.m, Clayton County police stopped a driver who had been weaving and committing other violations, Smith said. Police found a kilo of cocaine in his car, Smith said, and the investigation enabled police to get a search warrant for the house on Siroco Court.

The SWAT team, along with Forest Park police and Clayton County special operations and narcotics officers, executed the warrant and made the arrests.

Smith said the homeowner who rented to the men was unaware of the drug operation.

Ramirez, 25, has been charged with improper lane change, driving while unlicensed and trafficking cocaine. Calderon’s, 40, charges include trafficking cocaine, trafficking Methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of Methamphetamine and possession of marijuana. Arriola-Camareno, 20, has just one charge, burglary, while Zambrano, 38, has been charged with driving without a license. His truck has also been impounded.