Federal agents arrested a 38-year-old Mexican national in Gainesville, Ga., after he allegedly collected packages containing 126 kilograms of methamphetamine during a controlled delivery, according to the Department of Homeland Security, which said the suspect had previously been deported from the U.S. twice.
Pedro Guadarrama Loza was taken into custody Aug. 13 following an operation conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, DHS said Monday. He now faces federal charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and illegal re-entry.
The arrest followed a controlled delivery arranged by HSI Atlanta investigators at a residence in Gainesville. Agents monitored the property as the packages arrived and watched Guadarrama Loza emerge from the residence to retrieve them, according to DHS.
Federal officers then moved in and arrested him. DHS said investigators seized 126 kilograms, or about 278 pounds, of methamphetamine from the shipment. The department hasn't disclosed the estimated street value of the drugs or provided details about their intended destination.
DHS characterized Guadarrama Loza as "this criminal illegal alien from Mexico" and said he "was arrested with 126 kilograms of methamphetamine, has prior convictions for drug trafficking, and has already been deported from our country TWICE."
The department said Guadarrama Loza has a previous felony drug-trafficking conviction in Georgia as well as an earlier arrest in the state for driving without a valid license. The allegations in the latest case haven't yet been adjudicated, and the DHS account doesn't indicate whether Guadarrama Loza has entered pleas to the federal charges.
His immigration history stretches back more than two decades, according to the government. DHS said Guadarrama Loza reported entering the U.S. unlawfully in 2004 through Texas, near Austin.
An immigration judge issued a final removal order against him on May 8, 2008, and he was deported a week later, on May 15, according to records cited by DHS. The department said Guadarrama Loza subsequently re-entered the U.S. through Texas near Eagle Pass, though officials haven't provided an exact date for that entry.
During that period in the U.S., Guadarrama Loza was convicted of felony drug trafficking and served a prison sentence, according to DHS. He was removed from the country for a second time on June 22, 2017.
Federal authorities allege Guadarrama Loza later entered the country unlawfully for a third time. DHS hasn't said when or where that alleged re-entry occurred, leaving a gap in the publicly disclosed timeline between his second deportation and last week's arrest.
The department used the case to promote the Trump administration's broader immigration and narcotics-enforcement campaign. A DHS spokesperson credited "the hard work of the brave men and women of HSI," adding that "this drug trafficker is off our streets and will soon be removed from our country."
The spokesperson also said Guadarrama Loza "will no longer be able to peddle his poison on American streets and endanger American lives."
