“Because of his leadership and his eagerness to help us with this operation and because we partnered across city, state and federal lines, this is how this happens,” Judd said, “because this is an international drug-smuggling operation that came all the way down to your child in Polk County, Florida.” Judd praised Sibley for leading the operation. Border Patrol and the Snellville Police Department in Georgia stood behind Judd at Thursday’s news conference. Members of HSI in Atlanta and Tampa, U.S. Border Patrol, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and seven law-enforcement departments in Georgia, the PCSO said. The operation also involved the Federal Bureau of Prisons, U.S. The Haines City Police Department took part in the operation, Judd said, and was represented at Thursday’s news conference by Lt. The Polk Sheriff’s Office heads the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, which includes local police agencies. He said the traffickers hoped to establish a presence in Polk County.Īsked about the seizures of marijuana and the anti-anxiety pills, Judd said meth has a caustic effect and that users often ingest the other drugs to “take the edge off.” “And then because of HSI, because of the leadership of these professionals who are with me today and others who couldn’t make it, we were able to take it from the street level all the way back to the distribution point.” “All of this drug here was not destined for Polk County, just a piece of it,” Judd said. Only a portion of the seized drugs would have been sold on the street in Polk County, and the rest would have been distributed through the country, he said. The Juarez and Sinaloa cartels are at war and often carry out public murders, Judd said.Ītlanta is the southeastern hub for meth trafficking, Judd said.

Judd emphasized the connections of the trafficking ring to the Juarez drug cartel, one of Mexico’s most established crime organizations.

Though the buckets bore the logo of Home Depot, Judd said the home-improvement chain had no role in the trafficking ring.

The 24 orange buckets displayed at the news conference were of the same type used by the traffickers and symbolized the amount of liquid meth seized, Judd said. Investigators also seized 20 guns, three of which were reported as stolen, the release said The Sheriff's Office said Ornelas-Loza and Ornelas-Martinez are related, though their exact relationship wasn't known. Both men were living illegally in the United States, Judd said. The others arrested so far are Crescencio Ornelas-Loza, 30, of Fairburn, Georgia and Luis Ornelas-Martinez, 50, of Stockbridge, Georgia. The liquid meth originated in Mexico and was smuggled across the border to Palacios, Judd said.

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