Two men were sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after federal agents found more than 700 pounds of methamphetamine in a commercial shipment of cucumbers near Gainesville, Ga.
DEA agents started watching a tractor-trailer parked outside a warehouse June 30, 2025, before seizing the drugs. Investigators received information the vehicle was carrying a large quantity of narcotics.
Andres Jasso Jr. and Rufino Pineda-Perez were arrested near the truck by agents. Later a search uncovered thousands of individually wrapped packages of methamphetamine.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg called the seizure “astonishing amount of deadly methamphetamine. Jasso, 39, and Pineda-Perez, 61, were sentenced separately to 15 years each in federal prison. Pineda-Perez was sentenced Wednesday and Jasso was sentenced July 17.
The men also will be on supervised release for 10 years after they serve their prison terms.
The two defendants pled guilty March 11 to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Pineda-Perez also pled guilty to illegally reentering the United States after having been deported.
Court records in federal court tied both men to the cucumber shipment operation. The case began with surveillance of the warehouse.
Drugs hidden in 20 pallets of boxes of cucumbers
DEA agents saw Jasso and Pineda-Perez in a sedan parked next to the trailer before police searched the commercial vehicle.
Inside, investigators discovered 20 pallets stacked with boxes of cucumbers. Federal prosecutors said the cartons contained thousands of individually wrapped methamphetamine packages. The total weight of the drugs seized was more than 700 pounds.
Investigators said co-conspirators told the two men to unload the boxes and separate the narcotics from the produce.
The authorities have been unable to determine who sent the shipment or who it was for. Prosecutors did not say where the load came from, and the name of the warehouse and the route the trailer took were not disclosed.
Pineda-Perez has a prior deportation record
Prosecutors said Pineda-Perez was a Mexican citizen who was in the United States illegally.
His criminal and immigration history stretches back more than two decades. He was convicted of transporting marijuana in Arizona in 2001 before being deported from the country.
Later, Pineda-Perez came back to the United States. Federal agents first crossed paths with him in 2014, during an investigation into cocaine trafficking in the Atlanta area. A judge gave him six and a half years in prison in 2015, and he was deported again.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA with assistance from the Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The case was prosecuted for the Northern District of Georgia by Assistant U.S. Attorney Johnny Baer.
Authorities have not identified a supplier or where the methamphetamine ultimately was supposed to be distributed or named any other defendants. The authorities’ release also did not give an estimate of the commercial value of the shipment of cucumbers.
Why It Counts
Every day, food shipments pass through warehouses, distribution centers and commercial transportation networks. Those provide opportunities for criminal organizations to hide illicit cargo within legitimate freight.
The Gainesville investigation underscores how a routine commercial shipment can be used to move large quantities of controlled substances without immediately attracting suspicion.
For transportation and logistics professionals the case highlights the need for clear procedures in the event of unusual shipping instructions, unfamiliar contacts or discrepancies in shipment documentation and details.
