Three illegal aliens have been sentenced for operating a methamphetamine lab out of their home in Norcross, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Zury Brito-Arroyo, Bonifacio Brito-Maldonado, and Roberto Arroyo-Garcia have been sentenced to federal prison for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine in a home where a minor child resided and within 1,000 feet of a school,” a Monday press release said. “The three men, all of whom had illegally entered the United States from Mexico, utilized a family home in Norcross less than 200 feet from an elementary school to operate a methamphetamine laboratory.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), along with the Georgia State Patrol, worked the case in 2017.
In August of that year, they stopped Brito-Arroyo outside the drug den, and found $10,000 in cash along with a 9mm pistol in the car. He was riding with his wife and five-year-old child.
Police then searched the home, and found Roberto Arroyo-Garcia and Bonifacio Brito-Maldonado actively manufacturing the drugs.
“These men ran a lab churning out volatile and toxic chemicals to produce concentrated methamphetamine,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine in the press release. “In doing so, they were exposing not only members of their own family, including children, an expectant mother, and a grandmother, to serious harm, but also innocent neighbors and school children who were completely unaware of the danger.”
This was not Arroyo-Garcia’s first altercation with immigration authorities.
The press release said he had been deported from the United States twice prior to his 2017 arrest. Both times, he had been deported after being convicted of drug crimes. The 39-year-old was sentenced to 22 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Brito-Arroyo, 28, was sentenced to 21 years in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
Brito-Maldonado, 24, was sentenced to 19 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
All of the men pleaded guilty to their crimes.
“Methamphetamine production can have devasting [sic] consequences that go beyond those associated with taking the drug. One such consequence is the toxic vapor and deadly chemicals produced when it is being made. These chemicals pose extreme danger to anyone in the vicinity. The innocent children in the school next door and even the other family members in the household were placed in danger due to the defendants’ recklessness,” said Special Agent in Charge Katrina W. Berger.
Berger is in charge of HSI’s operations in Georgia and Alabama.
“This is a growing threat and HSI and its law enforcement partners are working to identify, arrest, and prosecute those involved in producing and selling this poison,” she said.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
