Alabama agents seize drugs, guns, deport 28

A collection of law enforcement agencies has arrested six men and recovered drugs, money, guns and body armor in what is being called an ongoing investigation in Northeast Alabama.

Authorities arrested Jose Guadalupe Garcia-Garcia, Jose Martin Garcia-Garcia, Luis Matus Cruz, John Lee Owen Wilbert, Hector Favian Tafolla and Valente Lopez, according to a press release from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office.

Officials said some of the arrests stem from an investigation Wednesday in which agents used a drug-sniffing dog to find a pound of methamphetamine ice at a home.

The street value of the recovered meth is more than $30,000, according to the release.

Agents also recovered "numerous" weapons, body armor and $15,000 in cash.

Homeland Security agents also arrested 28 people to be deported back to other countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, the release stated.

Area law enforcement officials say there has been an influx of meth from Mexico since laws in the United States have made it tougher to manufacture locally.

The team of agencies involved included the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, police officers from Albertville, Sylvania, Collinsville and sheriff's deputies from DeKalb, Etowah and Marshall counties.

For complete details, see tomorrow's Times Free Press.

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