DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — The U.S. Department of Justice announced two men working at a DeKalb County auto shop were charged with trafficking methamphetamine from the business.
According to USDOJ, Daniel Santana-Lopez, 39 of Mexico, and Jared Thompson, 41 of Snellville, were arraigned for trafficking meth and other related charges.
Santana-Lopez, described as an illegal alien by the Justice Department, was also charged with illegal reentry.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the two men were first put on their radar for drug trafficking after law enforcement stopped Santana-Lopez in October 2024.
Santana-Lopez was leaving the DeKalb County auto repair shop he worked at when he was pulled over. Officers searched his vehicle and “allegedly found approximately 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamine.”
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Additional investigation revealed Santana-Lopez was not in the United States legally. He’d been previously deported twice, in 2014 and 2017, USDOJ said.
Santana-Lopez had also been allegedly distributing meth in June, July and August 2024.
An hour after Santana-Lopez was arrested, USDOJ said officers stopped Thompson leaving the same auto shop, where he also worked as a mechanic.
In his vehicle, officers allegedly found 140 kilograms of meth and a gun, according to the Justice Department.
Federal officials said agents seized about 2,500 pounds of meth from the two men’s vehicles.
Both men were indicted by a federal grand jury on June 11.
“These defendants, including a twice-deported illegal alien, allegedly tried to conceal a major methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy in a local automobile repair shop,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said in a statement. “Through a tenacious investigation, our federal and local law enforcement partners rooted out the defendants’ operation in our continued effort to eliminate the scourge of drug dealing from our communities.”
Santana-Lopez was charged with:
- Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Illegal reentry by a removed alien
Thompson was charged with:
- Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crime
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