A Sandy Springs man was arrested in north Georgia and charged with trafficking in methamphetamine after authorities said they caught him with about five pounds of raw meth, or “ice,” with a street value of roughly $100,000.
Alexis Renteria Maldonado was taken into custody Wednesday as Gordon County Sheriff’s officers assisted by state and federal law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at a home on Fairmount Highway in Sonoraville, according to Gordon County Sheriff Mitch Ralston.
Information had been developed earlier in the day, and sheriff’s detectives dressed in camouflage kept the home under surveillance for several hours before the arrest, Ralston said.
The 20-year-old Maldonado was charged with trafficking and manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of the drug with intent to distribute, the sheriff said.
Some of the meth was in liquid form, and detectives believe Maldonado was reducing it to solid “ice” form when he was apprehended, Ralston said. The suspect also is believed to have been staying in the Sonoraville home for less than 24 hours.
The residence had been rented by a third party. Investigators said they don’t believe that person knew of the illegal activity.
The arrest followed a joint investigation involving Gordon County Major Crimes detectives, deputies from the Crime Prevention Unit, and the GBI, Georgia State Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Union County Sheriff’s Office.
“I commend all of the agents, troopers, detectives, and deputy sheriffs who participated in this investigation, and I was especially pleased that this operation was not allowed to gain a foothold here before it was taken apart,” Ralston said in a statement.
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