Rome, GA – In a major blow to the city’s fight against narcotics, three key players in a massive methamphetamine conversion and trafficking ring have been sentenced to federal prison.
Rosa Elena Rangel Pantoja, Dustin Burgess, and Berzain Leal Batrez were found guilty of their roles in operating a large-scale methamphetamine conversion and distribution organization. The trio was sentenced to federal prison for their crimes, which posed a significant threat to public safety and the lives of several children who lived in close proximity to the clandestine laboratory.
According to U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: From at least October 2021 until August 2022, Rosa Elena Rangel Pantoja led a drug trafficking organization (DTO) that manufactured crystal methamphetamine in Georgia. Members of the DTO transported liquid methamphetamine from Mexico to the Northern District of Georgia in the gas tanks of semi-trucks. The DTO members then pumped the liquid methamphetamine out of the semi-trucks and cooked it into crystal methamphetamine, using at least two clandestine laboratories to convert the methamphetamine.
The investigation began in March 2022, when Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) agents were notified that a Hispanic female, later identified as Rangel, was purchasing large amounts of acetone, which is a critical component in converting liquid methamphetamine into crystal methamphetamine.
In August 2022, agents found one of the methamphetamine conversion laboratories in Canon, Georgia, after observing a semi-truck delivering liquid methamphetamine to the lab. A search warrant was executed and agents seized over 250 gallons of liquid methamphetamine and nearly 10 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine. Rangel rented the property where members of the DTO cooked the methamphetamine on the lower level of a barndominium, while she and her four children lived in the upper level of the same building. Agents also seized two firearms from Rangel’s bedroom.
In November 2022, agents found a second methamphetamine conversion laboratory in Austell, Georgia, after tracking Batrez’s movements to the Mexico border and back to Georgia. Agents later observed members of the DTO delivering liquid methamphetamine to the laboratory, and upon executing a search warrant, over 160 gallons of liquid methamphetamine and 75 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine were seized.
The defendants, Rosa Elena Rangel Pantoja, Dustin Burgess, and Berzain Leal Batrez, were sentenced to federal prison for their crimes. The exact sentences are not specified in the available information but it is clear that they received a stiff punishment for their destructive impact on the communities.
HSI is committed to holding those accountable who distribute their poison into our communities, said Steven N. Schrank, Special Agent in Charge of HSI Atlanta that covers Georgia and Alabama.
The success of this investigation is proof that those destroying our communities with methamphetamine and other dangerous drugs will be held accountable, said Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Division.
The FBI is committed to working with our federal, state, and local partners to shut down these dangerous organizations that pump poison into our neighborhoods, said Mitchell Jackson, Supervisory Senior Resident Agent of FBI Atlanta’s Dalton office.
Related Federal Cases
- Gilberto Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Cocaine Trafficking, Alabama 2021 · Georgia
- Chadric Antonio Rhaney, Cocaine Trafficking, Georgia 2024 · Alabama
- Tahji Alonzo Orr, Marijuana and Gun Trafficking, Alabama 2022 · Georgia
- Ashley Zurica, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Florida 2023 · Alabama
- Marcus Ricketts, Murder, New York 2022 · Alabama
Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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