Gwinnett County, GA (September 5, 2025) – The GBI, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, and the FBI have arrested and charged Arturo Perez-Huizache, age 40, and Carla Michelle Abarca-Jiminez, age 22, both of Guerrero, Mexico, with Trafficking Methamphetamine, following a search warrant in Norcross, Gwinnett County, GA.

On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, and Thursday, September 4, 2025, the GBI Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO), FBI Conasauga Safe Streets Task Force (CSSTF), and the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office shut down a drug lab and arrested Perez-Huizache and Abarca-Jiminez. Agents and deputies executed a search warrant at a home in the 1500 block of Colony Park Drive, Norcross, Georgia. The operation led to the seizure of approximately four kilograms of suspected methamphetamine, suspected cocaine, suspected ecstasy pills, and a firearm. Agents and deputies also located a methamphetamine lab where methamphetamine oils were being converted into methamphetamine crystals and packaged for sale.

These arrests were the result of a lengthy drug investigation into the criminal drug trafficking organization (DTO) of Georgia Department of Corrections inmate Kevin Lee Daniel Mashburn, age 41, of Blue Ridge, Fannin County, Georgia. The Mashburn DTO is responsible for flooding large amounts of methamphetamine up the I-515/575 corridor throughout Cherokee, Pickens, Gilmer, Fannin, and Union Counties.

Over the past 12 months, agents and investigators have arrested more than a dozen suspects trafficking methamphetamine on behalf of the Mashburn DTO. These arrests netted more than 35 kilograms of methamphetamine. The following agencies contributed to the investigation: FBI (CSSTF), the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office, the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, the Georgia Department of Corrections, the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (CMANS) and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office. This is an ongoing investigation, and additional arrests are expected.

If you have information related to drug activity, you are encouraged to call GBI ARDEO at (706)348-7410. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, SendSomething mobile app.

The ARDEO is a multi-agency unit that covers 30 counties in North Georgia and consists of the following Sheriff’s Offices and Police Agencies: White County, Lumpkin County, Banks County, Jackson County, Habersham County, Stephens County, Rabun County, Franklin County, Gilmer County, Fannin County, the Cleveland Police Department the Flowery Branch Police Department, and the Toccoa Police Department, along with the Georgia National GuardCounter Drug Task Force, the Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Department of Community Supervision, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Contact

Special Agent in Charge Ken Howard

[email protected]

Related Files

  • ARDEO Gwinnett Search Warrant 1 (IMG, 961.68 KB)
    A digital scale displaying a weight of 2.058 kilograms holds two large, clear plastic-wrapped bundles of a white crystalline substance. The scale is an Ohaus Ranger 3000 model with visible buttons labeled “On/Zero,” “Print,” “Function,” and “Tare.” The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) badge logo is in the bottom left corner of the image.
  • ARDEO Gwinnett Search Warrant Image 2 (IMG, 1.27 MB)
    A cardboard box contains multiple items including large and small plastic bags filled with a white crystalline substance, a clear bag of multicolored pills, a revolver-style handgun, a passport, a black smartphone, and a pen. A pair of purple disposable gloves rests outside the box on the table. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) badge logo is in the top left corner of the photo.