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Ga. police seize 350 lbs of meth in historic bust

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A police officer packs up bags of methamphetamine after a news conference in Atlanta to announce the seizure of an estimated $6 million worth of the drug on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. (AP Photo)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

GWINNETT, Ga. — The federal Drug Enforcement Administration will hold a press conference Wednesday morning to discuss what’s being called the largest methamphetamine bust in the Eastern U.S.

Federal agents carried out two raids within hours of each other at homes near Duluth late Sunday and early Monday, the Gwinnett Daily Post reported.

Agents seized some 350 pounds of Mexican crystal methamphetamine and arrested four men on charges of drug trafficking. On the street, the seized meth could be worth about $7.7 million, a Gwinnett County police investigator told the Post.

One of the homes is located a few doors down the site of a quadruple shooting this week that Gwinnett police are calling drug-related. Police said the incidents don’t appear to be related.

Details of the operation will be discussed at a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday in Atlanta.

Charged with felony trafficking are Jose Rafael Lopez-Jimenez, 34; Gerardo Antonio Urena-Esquivel, 35; Luis Naranjo-Leon, 23; and Hugo Flores Rios, 29. All are Mexican natives.

The suspects are being held without bond at the Gwinnett County Jail.

Copyright 2009 Atlanta Journal-Constitution