Federal authorities arrested a previously convicted illegal immigrant in Georgia after seizing nearly 1,600 pounds of methamphetamine concealed in commercial blackberry shipments, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday, as reported by The New York Post.
Prosecutors said the drugs carried an estimated value in the tens of millions of dollars.
Gerardo Solorio-Alvarado, 44, a Mexican national, was indicted Tuesday on charges of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
1,600 lbs methamphetamine #Atlanta , authorities to seized hidden in #blackberry shipments.#GerardoSolorioAlvarado, 44, of Mexico, Criminal #Illegal, who already served time https://t.co/prbKgPJZIn
— Shadows Of Crime (@shadowsofcrime2) December 4, 2025
Solorio-Alvarado previously served 17 years in federal prison after being convicted of felony possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a gun in a drug trafficking crime. Officials said he remains unlawfully present in the United States.
His alleged accomplice, Nelson Enrique Sorto, 36, of Atlanta, was charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Sorto is currently on probation following a 2024 conviction for felony possession of methamphetamine.
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The investigation unfolded on Nov. 20, when federal agents and Hall County sheriff’s deputies conducting surveillance at a cold storage warehouse in Fulton County observed three refrigerated box trucks parked outside the facility.
Agents followed one of the trucks to a gas station in Gainesville, where Solorio-Alvarado allegedly picked up the driver and abandoned the vehicle.
A K-9 unit alerted to the presence of narcotics, prompting a search of the abandoned truck. Agents found approximately 661 pounds of methamphetamine concealed among pallets of blackberries.
Authorities later arrested Solorio-Alvarado after he attempted to escape from the back of his Gainesville home. Deputies recovered keys to the truck inside the residence.
A second team of agents followed another refrigerated truck as it traveled with an SUV to a home in southeast Atlanta. Sorto was allegedly driving the SUV.
Shortly after midnight, Sorto left the home with two passengers, and Georgia State Patrol troopers conducted a traffic stop. Inside the SUV, officers found two firearms and several containers of blackberries.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, working with the FBI, searched the box truck parked outside the Atlanta home and recovered approximately 924 pounds of methamphetamine hidden within additional blackberry pallets.
In total, the two seizures amounted to 1,585 pounds of methamphetamine.
“Solorio-Alvarado was convicted in federal court for drug trafficking and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and he served nearly two decades in federal prison for those offenses. He was then, and he remains, an illegal alien, unlawfully present in the United States,” U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said during a press conference.
Hertzberg added that drug cartels have a pattern of hiding meth in produce shipments.
“We’ve seen the cartels operate this way before. … We have seen massive methamphetamine seizures of drugs that were smuggled in with cucumbers, celery or jalapeño peppers. And now … blackberries.”
Both suspects remain in state custody and will be transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service.
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