440 Pounds of Meth Seized in Conyers Traffic Stop

A Georgia State Patrol trooper stopped a van for a traffic violation in Conyers on November 7 and found about 440 pounds of methamphetamine packed in trash bags, federal prosecutors said. Gerardo Miranda Mendoza, 57, was charged in connection with the drugs and with illegally reentering the United States after deportation.

Prosecutors said Mendoza took the van to a retail lot in Stonecrest, where he met another man. That man drove the van to a Conyers warehouse, loaded the bags into it and returned it to the parking lot. Mendoza then drove away before the traffic stop.

Mendoza, who is from Morelia, Mexico, has prior drug convictions in California in 1998 and federal court in 2009, court records show. He was deported after each conviction, most recently in November 2017. Authorities have not publicly identified the other man involved in the alleged transfer.

Mendoza appeared in federal court on November 9, accused of joining a plan to possess methamphetamine for distribution and of returning to the United States illegally after being removed. A judge ordered him held without bond in U.S. Marshals Service custody. The criminal complaint contains allegations, and Mendoza is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.