A recent increase in drug-related kidnappings in Gwinnett County has put a spotlight on drug violence in Georgia, federal agents say.

About nine drug-related kidnappings have occurred in Gwinnett this year. The latest involved a man bound and chained in a basement in Lilburn who was rescued by federal agents the week before last.

Mexican drug cartels are moving large amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana into the country for distribution up the East Coast, said Rodney Benson, the special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta. Drug-related kidnappings have increased in the past 90 days, he said.

David Nahmias, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, said Gwinnett is a center of Mexican drug cartel activity in the area because of easy transportation on I-85 and a large Hispanic population where traffickers can try to blend in.

Three Gwinnett cases in the past three months have involved a kidnapping victim held in a home and released after a police rescue or a stakeout of a ransom drop.

In one case this month, police killed a kidnapping suspect in a ransom pick-up. In another, police arrested nine drug-traffic suspects in Lawrenceville, the youngest a 16-year-old girl.

Representatives of Mexican drug cartels in Atlanta are "clashing with each other," the DEA's Benson said.

"That's pretty terrifying to most citizens in our state," Nahmias said.

"We are very concerned about the type of extreme violence we've seen on the Mexican side of the border starting to come to this side of the border and to North Georgia," Nahmias said.

Drug traffickers also are getting younger, Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Keith Miles said.

"Our cases are going up," Miles said. "We got 15-year-olds out here slinging kilos of cocaine. When that's going on in this county, that's a big problem."

In addition to the rescues, three or four kidnapping cases in the past six to eight months have involved victims who were released with minimal police action, Gwinnett police spokesman Illana Spellman said.

"The victims are suspected drug runners or drug dealers, and they're making someone mad," Spellman said.

"Somehow, they came up short."

Relatives of suspected drug dealers have called police to say their relative had been kidnapped, Spellman said.

In these cases, police have called the victim's cellphone and let kidnappers know they're on the case. Then the matter resolved itself, Spellman said.

"We find out the victim's back at home and everyone says it was a 'big misunderstanding,' " Spellman said.

Assistant District Attorney Miles says the uptick in kidnappings is not a "blip."

More and more drugs are coming into Gwinnett, he said.

"It's just a flood," Miles said.

"It's just a matter of time before innocent people get caught in the crossfire."

Staff writer Andria Simmons contributed to this report.

GWINNETT A HOT SPOT

Here's a synopsis of some recent drug-related kidnappings in Gwinnett based on police reports, court documents and interviews.

> July 11, DEA agents raided a Lilburn home and arrested three men —- illegal immigrants from Mexico —- and charged them with kidnapping and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The men allegedly beat and chained Oscar Reynoso, 31, to a wall in a basement for nearly a week to collect a $300,000 drug debt, the DEA said. Reynoso is a legal resident from the Dominican Republic. The men were armed with a military-style assault rifle and a 9mm handgun, the DEA said. The youngest charged with kidnapping was 19.

> July 7, Gwinnett County police shot and killed kidnapping suspect Richard Garcia, 23, during a ransom drop at a Waffle House parking lot near Lawrenceville. They arrested Jose Ramirez-Perez, 24, who was in the car with Garcia, and charged him with false imprisonment in the kidnapping. Relatives say Juan David Arce-Flores was kidnapped July 1 in Sandy Springs by men dressed as police. Arce-Flores escaped from a home at 41 Bethesda Church Road in Lawrenceville after the ransom drop-off went bad. He is suspected of being a drug dealer and is in Gwinnett jail charged with giving a false identity, police said.

> May 13, Gwinnett County police arrested nine people in connection with drug trafficking and the kidnapping of a man at 3231 Hamilton Road in Lawrenceville. Police found the victim in the house, unharmed, as well as a 9mm Ruger handgun and about 11 kilos (26 pounds) of cocaine. The youngest charged with trafficking is a 16-year-old girl.

> Jan. 19, Herbert Junior Higgins, 57, was found slain in his van in the parking lot of the Wesley Paces Apartments on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross. Previously, Higgins told police he was kidnapped Dec. 21, 2007, by four "professionals" looking for money, who hung him by handcuffs in a warehouse and beat him. He said they drove Higgins to a friend's home at 1302 Stoneybrook Drive in Tucker because they believed the friend had money. The kidnappers opened fire on the friend, who shot back. Higgins escaped and climbed a fence with his handcuffs on.

 ELIZABETH LANDT / Staff
Map locates 3231 Hamilton Rd. and 755 E. Fork Shady Dr. in Gwinnett County. Inset map outlines area of detail in Gwinnett relative to metro Atlanta.