Atlanta's in-house DEA lab speeds drug testing in CJNG crackdown
New Georgia facility processes federal seizures in minutes, accelerating prosecutions as the CJNG focus intensifies nationwide
ATLANTA — The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta Field Division opened a new in-house laboratory in May to process all federal drug seizures in Georgia, a move officials say speeds testing and sharpens the agency’s focus on the Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG). The lab, the first of its kind to be built into a DEA field division, reduces delays that previously required sending samples to laboratories in other cities and allows quicker testing when seizures are linked to CJNG.
Lead DEA agent Chad Chumbley, the supervisory forensic chemist in Atlanta, said the change has already increased efficiency. Previously, Atlanta would call in chemists from labs in other cities to test drugs, a process that could take days. Now that testing is in-house, agents can receive results within minutes, enabling a quicker response when seizures are tied to CJNG. In September, the Atlanta division seized more than 1,000 pounds of meth linked to the cartel, and the drugs were sent to the new lab for testing after the busts. "It would take maybe a day or two for somebody to come out," Chumbley said. "We are able to respond right away and help out." Chumbley said the lab uses statistical sampling to estimate the proportion of substances in a broader population.
Robert Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division, said CJNG has risen to power after the arrests of rival Sinaloa cartel leadership in Mexico. "All the war and fighting going on in Mexico — it’s about one thing. Whoever controls the gateway, the access points to the U.S., wins the war in the end," Murphy said. "CJNG has risen to power, and we want to make sure our efforts are focused on making sure they don’t get too strong." Murphy estimated the street value of the meth at at least $4 million. He noted that more than 700 pounds of this were in an apartment with two children under ten years old in there, underscoring why cartels attempt to blend in.
DEA's nationwide effort to crackdown on CJNG continues. On Monday, agents stopped more than 175 pounds of cocaine linked to the cartel crossing the southern border into the United States. The following day, agents in Houston seized more than 28 pounds of cocaine and $470,000 from suspected CJNG members. "Every little bit counts. Every seizure counts. We’re targeting the entire network from facilitators, producers, transporters, money launderers — anybody that we come across that’s related to CJNG, we are pursuing," said Brian Leordo, DEA Houston Field Division Deputy Special Agent in Charge. The operation illustrates the DEA’s intensified focus on CJNG as part of a broader federal crackdown.
