Local and federal drugs agents have dismantled a methamphetamine conversion lab in Buford that held enough meth oil to make millions of dollars worth of illegal drugs.
Two men, one from Florida and the other from metro Atlanta, were arrested in the operation.
Hall County Sheriff's Office spokesman Derreck Booth said the Gainesville Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration raided the lab and distribution site on Peachtree Drive on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
"The DEA’s Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team executed the federal search warrant at the house and found numerous containers filled with methamphetamine oil, as well as containers filled with a mixture of paint and methamphetamine oil," Booth said in an email statement. "According to the preliminary investigation, the drug trafficking organization transported methamphetamine-infused paint to the house, where the drug was extracted. Criminals would then convert the oil into a solid crystal form for distribution and sale to users."
Booth said agents confiscated enough oil to manufacture about 60 kilograms of methamphetamine. The drugs would have an estimated street value of $6 million.
Gerardo Valencia-Cervantes, 29, of Deland, Florida, and Ismael Marin-Urbina, 36, of Jonesboro, Georgia, were arrested without incident at the site of the conversion lab. Each suspect has been charged with trafficking methamphetamine. Both are being held at the Hall County Jail with no bond.
