A shipping container filled with hundreds of pounds of marijuana and thousands of THC oil cartridges was seized by the Johns Creek Alpharetta Forsyth County Drug Task Force yesterday after allegedly being shipped to Forsyth County from outside the state, according to authorities.
According to Cpl. Doug Rainwater, spokesman for the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office, at about 4 p.m. on Jan. 22, a suspect identified as Kevin Joseph Marrero, 35, of Buckhead, allegedly signed for delivery of the shipping container at an address off Trotters Way in south Forsyth.
Rainwater said that using information gathered from their investigation into Marrero and other out-of-state law enforcement agencies, investigators with the task force were at the scene at the time of the delivery and quickly verified the presence of narcotics in the shipping container using a K9 unit.
“He was expecting it at a certain time and we were there waiting,” Rainwater said.
Inside the container, Rainwater said that investigators discovered 170 pounds of what they believe is high-grade marijuana, along with 1,200 packages of THC oil vaporizer cartridges.
He said that the marijuana was bagged for sale in pound-sized bags and each THC oil cartridge was between 70 and 90 percent pure.
“Between the pounds of marijuana and the cartridges, close to $1 million in narcotics were seized, if they were sold on the street,” he said.
Marrero allegedly left the container at the delivery location, a heavily-trafficked industrial area where a shipping container would not look out of place, Rainwater said, and was followed by task force agents, who arrested Marrero during a traffic stop.
Authorities are still trying to determine whether Marrero allegedly acted alone, but Rainwater said they are sure that the company that delivered the container was not complicit.
Marrero has been charged with trafficking marijuana and possession of a schedule 1 narcotic. He is being held in the Forsyth County Jail and is currently under no bond.
This case will be investigated by the Johns Creek Alpharetta Forsyth County Drug Task Force.