(WSB Radio)  The Gwinnett County District Attorney's Office, Gwinnett Police, and the Drug Enforcement Agency release more details in a nationwide bust of a Mexican drug ring that netted nearly 40 arrests in metro Atlanta.

Besides the arrests of La Familia members, law enforcement confiscated 17 kilograms of cocaine , 188 pounds of crystal methamphetamine , 13 guns, and $50,000 cash at two homes in Lawrenceville and Lilburn.

Officials say one of those homes located at 1440 La Maison Drive in Lawrenceville contained the largest methamphetamine conversion lab ever seen in this country.

"The lab was found in a middle-class neighborhood... a white, split-level house.  The only thing it didn't have was a picket fence," says Gwinnett D.A. Danny Porter.

He says part of the success of the gang over the years is that members blended in with a growing Hispanic population in Gwinnett and operated inside quite neighborhoods.

DEA Special Agency Rodney Benson says with more than 300 arrests nationwide, they've put a pretty good dent in the gang's U.S. operations.

"Whether it's taking away $32 million in currency, whether it's taking away dangerous ice methamphetamine , the weapons... clearly they've been impacted," he says.

The operation called Project Coronada  conducted simultaneous stings in 39 other cities including Dallas and Los Angeles. More than 3000 agents and police participated.

Benson says La Familia is known for its violence including murders, kidnappings, and assaults.  He says one of the leaders is behind the murders of 12 Mexican federal police officers in July.

"We have taken a lot of dangerous people out of this community and a lot of communities over the United States and that is the focus of drug enforcement," says Gwinnett Police Chief Charlie Walters.

22 October 2209