Illegal immigrant cousins sentenced for operating Georgia meth lab

Three illegal immigrant cousins, including at least one who was previously deported, have been collectively sentenced to about 60 years in prison for manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine.

The Justice Department said Monday that the Mexican cousins operated a meth lab at a family home located less than 200 feet from an elementary school in Norcress, Georgia.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine said in a press release that those operating the lab churned out "volatile and toxic chemicals to produce concentrated methamphetamine," putting both schoolchildren and members of their own family in danger.

The three cousins were charged with "manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine in a home where a minor child resided and within 1,000 feet of a school."

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Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy said: "Given that this operational ‘meth’ lab was near a school, the outcome could have been devastating to the school children, staff and to the community-at-large."

"Because of spirited law enforcement cooperation between DEA [Drug Enforcement Agency] and its counterparts, these defendants will receive well-deserved time in prison." 

Agents stopped one of the cousins, 28-year-old Zury Brito-Arroyo, as he was leaving the house. Afterward, agents found the other two -- Bonifacio Brito-Maldonado, 24, and Roberto Arroyo-Garcia, 39 -- operating the lab in a backyard shed.

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Agents seized more than 10.7 kilograms of crystal meth, a 9 mm pistol, and additional liquid meth that had not been fully processed.

Each had been convicted in October of 2019 and have now received around 20 years in prison, with additional years of supervised release.