Two men were sentenced to federal prison for a drug trafficking attempt that was thwarted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) during an operation at a Georgia warehouse.
On August 26, 2026, authorities announced that Rufino Pineda-Perez, 61, of Mexico, and Andres Jasso, Jr., 39, of Brookhaven, Georgia, was both sentenced to 15 years in prison to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.
In March 2026, both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Pineda-Perez also pleaded guilty to illegal reentry by a previously removed alien.
The men were arrested on June 30, 2025, at a Gainesville, Georgia, warehouse as a result of a federal surveillance operation, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
The DEA was surveilling a tractor trailer parked at the warehouse believed to contain a large amount of drugs.
DEA agents arrested both Jasso, Jr. and Pineda-Perez after they were observed in a sedan parked next to the tractor trailer.
A subsequent investigation showed that the trailer contained “20 pallets of boxes containing cucumbers and thousands of individually wrapped packages of methamphetamine.”
Agents learned that Jasso, Jr. and Pineda-Perez had been tasked with offloading the boxes from the tractor trailer and separating the drugs from the cucumbers.
The weight of the seized methamphetamine was more than 700 pounds.
Pineda-Perez is a Mexican national who has been deported twice and was imprisoned for transporting nearly one kilogram of cocaine in the Atlanta area.
“The defendants attempted to conceal an astonishing amount of deadly methamphetamine in a cucumber shipment, but the diligent and strategic efforts of law enforcement partners uncovered their ruse,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. “As a result, Pineda-Perez, a twice-convicted and twice-deported felon, and Jasso, Jr. will now serve substantial time in federal prison with no possibility of parole.”
“This sentence reflects the seriousness of trafficking methamphetamine and the importance of holding repeat offenders accountable,” said Michael J. Connolly, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division. “This defendant, a twice-convicted felon, continued to engage in dangerous drug trafficking, going to great lengths to conceal methamphetamine in a shipment of cucumbers. Cases like this demonstrate why strong partnerships among law enforcement agencies are so critical. By working together, sharing information, and pursuing a common mission, we can disrupt drug trafficking organizations and protect our communities.”
This case was investigated by the DEA with assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
