Federal and state law enforcement in Georgia arrested a Mexican national who was in the United States illegally, after seizing a combined 1,585 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in blackberry shipments at locations in Atlanta and Gainesville, Georgia, officials announced on Wednesday.
The suspected trafficker, Gerardo Solorio-Alvarado, 44, was indicted Tuesday on conspiracy and possession charges, following an investigation.
Solorio-Alvarado has served time in federal prison for methamphetamine possession, prosecutors said.
According to authorities, on Nov. 20 law enforcement found three refrigerated box trucks parked outside of a cold storage warehouse in Fulton County, Georgia. Agents followed one of the trucks to a home in southeast Atlanta, and state troopers stopped a vehicle connected to the trucks and found two firearms and several containers of blackberries.
In all, authorities recovered nearly 924 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in the pallets. Another truck was stopped that contained about 700 pounds of the drug.
One of the drivers, Nelson Enrique Sorto, 36, of Atlanta, was arrested and charged on Monday with possession with the intent to sell methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.
In another case, a wannabe drug kingpin was convicted on Tuesday of selling high-grade marijuana and other illegal drugs in Columbus, Georgia.
After a two-day trial, Marquez Holloway, 32, was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine, and more than 50 kilograms of marijuana. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison at his sentencing, set for Feb. 24, 2026.
“Illegal drugs pouring into our communities from dangerous cartels pose a serious threat to the safety of our nation,” said U.S. Attorney William Keys in Georgia.
Prosecutors say Holloway was allegedly trying to take over the illegal drug trade in Columbus by selling the California drugs.
Holloway was arrested in 2022 as part of Operation Sweet Silence, a multi-agency law enforcement operation.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington on Oct. 21, 2025. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)
Operation Sweet Silence focused on investigating members of the Columbus-based Zohannon criminal street gang and its drug trafficking activities, according to authorities.
During the investigation, federal agents found that Holloway, who is not a member of the gang, was allegedly working with others to take control of the illegal drug market in Columbus by supplying the exceptionally high-grade drugs from California.
Prosecutors alleged that Holloway obtained about 110 pounds of marijuana to sell in Columbus in the latter months of 2023. Holloway allegedly sold a kilogram of cocaine and also allegedly tried to get methamphetamine to sell in the community.
Holloway has a prior state conviction for drug trafficking.
Holloway’s arrest was conducted as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Operation Take Back America that aims to crack down on criminal organizations and cartels.
The nationwide initiative uses the resources from the DOJ to fight back against illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime.
The case was investigated by the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), and sheriff’s departments in Georgia and California.
