ATLANTA / GAINESVILLE, Ga. — U.S. federal authorities say they have disrupted a massive drug-trafficking operation after seizing nearly 1,600 pounds (about 720 kg) of methamphetamine concealed in refrigerated blackberry shipments that arrived from Mexico to North Georgia.
Prosecutors say the street value of the haul runs into the tens of millions of dollars, making it one of the largest meth seizures ever reported in the region
Repeat offender at center of the case
According to a federal indictment unsealed in Atlanta, Gerardo Solorio-Alvarado, 44, a Mexican national in the U.S. illegally, is accused of conspiring to traffic the massive drug load. Prosecutors say he is a repeat offender who previously served about 17 years in federal prison for meth trafficking and a gun charge, before allegedly returning to the drug trade.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia describes Solorio-Alvarado as an “illegal alien from Mexico who previously served time in federal prison.”
He is charged alongside Nelson Enrique Sorto, 36, of Atlanta, also a convicted felon with a prior meth conviction who was reportedly on probation at the time of his arrest.
Both men face federal conspiracy and drug-trafficking charges that could carry up to life in prison without parole if they are convicted.
How investigators say the “blackberry meth” scheme worked
Court documents and law-enforcement briefings outline a detailed picture of the operation:
- On November 20–21, 2025, federal agents were watching a cold-storage warehouse in Fulton County, metro Atlanta. Several refrigerated box trucks were parked outside.
- Agents followed one of the trucks as it left in tandem with an SUV driven by Sorto and later parked outside a home on Custer Avenue SE in Atlanta.
- According to prosecutors, Sorto opened the back of the truck to inspect the load, which appeared to be pallets of fresh blackberries.
- After a traffic stop on the SUV, troopers recovered two firearms and containers of blackberries from the vehicle.
- Investigators then searched the parked box truck and say they found roughly 419 kilograms (about 924 pounds) of crystal meth hidden inside the blackberry pallets.
At almost the same time, a second refrigerated truck left the same warehouse and was tracked to a gas station on McEver Road in Hall County, near Gainesville.
- Authorities say Solorio-Alvarado arrived to pick up the driver and then left the area.
- A K-9 unit alerted to the smell of narcotics coming from the abandoned truck. Inside, agents say they discovered another 300 kilograms (about 661 pounds) of meth hidden among pallets of blackberries.
In total, federal, state, and local authorities say the two trucks carried about 1,585 pounds of methamphetamine, a figure rounded in public statements to “nearly 1,600 pounds.”
Investigators believe the shipments were moved across the southern border from Mexico and are tied to Mexican cartel networks exploiting produce supply chains to disguise narcotics.
“Deadly meth” disguised as fruit
Officials say the operation demonstrates how far traffickers will go to hide narcotics in seemingly harmless cargo:
- U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg called the defendants “repeat offenders” who allegedly tried to flood North Georgia with a “deadly” quantity of methamphetamine.
- FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Paul Brown said the seizure shows that the bureau will “never waver” in disrupting traffickers “no matter where they try to hide” their drugs.
- Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Hosey said the case highlights what coordinated federal-state-local operations can achieve against drug cartels.
- Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch called the bust a “major disruption” to criminals selling “dangerous poison” in Georgia communities.
The FBI and GBI say the meth was high-purity crystal methamphetamine, destined for distribution across the Atlanta metropolitan area and beyond.
Pattern: drugs hidden in fresh produce
Federal authorities point out that this seizure is part of a broader pattern in which cartels use food shipments to move narcotics:
- In recent months in North Georgia, investigators have intercepted meth loads hidden in cucumbers, celery, and jalapeño peppers, in addition to the latest blackberry shipment.
- Just days earlier, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Texas reported seizing more than 1,100 pounds of meth hidden in a truckload of lettuce at the Pharr International Bridge, another case valued at over $10 million.
Officials say the blackberry seizure underscores how traffickers are increasingly using legitimate produce logistics — refrigerated trucks, warehouses, and cross-border agricultural shipments — to cloak industrial-scale drug loads.
Immigration, prior record, and federal task forces
According to court filings and law-enforcement statements:
- Solorio-Alvarado is described as an undocumented immigrant who illegally re-entered the U.S. after serving a long federal sentence for meth trafficking and a firearm offense.
- The case is part of broader Homeland Security and FBI task-force efforts targeting cartel-linked drug pipelines that move methamphetamine from Mexico into U.S. cities.
The investigation is being led by the FBI Atlanta Field Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia State Patrol, and other local agencies.
What happens next
Both Solorio-Alvarado and Sorto are currently being held in state custody without bond and are expected to be transferred into federal custody to face charges in U.S. District Court in Atlanta.
They are charged with:
- Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine
- Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
If convicted, each faces the possibility of life imprisonment under federal sentencing guidelines.
As in all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
