More than 700 pounds of methamphetamine, concealed inside a load of cucumbers, was seized in a warehouse outside of Gainesville, Georgia. Andres Jasso, Jr. and Rufino Pineda-Perez, were arrested and charged with the crime.
According to U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg, the methamphetamine was discovered on June 30, 2025, when DEA Atlanta agents learned that a tractor-trailer, parked at a warehouse in Gainesville, potentially contained a large amount of drugs. Agents observed a sedan next to the tractor trailer, and Jasso, Jr. was in the driver’s seat, while Pineda-Perez was in the front passenger seat.
During a search of the tractor-trailer, agents located 20 pallets of boxes containing cucumbers. Inside the boxes, agents uncovered thousands of individually wrapped packages containing methamphetamine. Jasso, Jr. and Pineda-Perez were allegedly tasked with offloading the shipment from the tractor-trailer and separating the drugs from the cucumbers.
Pineda-Perez is a citizen and national of Mexico with no legal status in the United States. In 2001, he was deported and removed from the United States following a felony conviction in Arizona for transporting marijuana. He illegally re-entered the United States and was encountered by federal agents in March 2014 while transporting nearly one kilogram of cocaine in the Atlanta area.
Andres Jasso, Jr., 37, of Brookhaven, Ga., and Rufino Pineda-Perez, 59, of Mexico, were charged in a criminal complaint on July 1, 2025, with possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Pineda-Perez was also charged in a separate criminal complaint with illegal reentry by a removed alien.
The case is being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration with valuable assistance provided by the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Assistant United States Attorney Johnny Baer is prosecuting the case.
Rufino Pineda-Perez and Andres Jasso, Jr. are presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
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Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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