The Mexican cartels' fleet of 18-wheelers has long since replaced the Caribbean air drops and speed boats used by the Colombian cartels in the 1980's and 1990's, the era of \"Miami Vice\".
And major cities at interstate highway junctions, like Atlanta, have become important hubs for the Mexican cartels.
\"Atlanta is a central trans-shipment point for pushing narcotics to some of the largest distribution cells in the United States,\" said Rodney Benson, the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA office in Atlanta.","publishedDate":"2009-04-16T18:54:08Z","contributors":[{"name":"ABC News","url":"","role":"","logo":"","logoAlt":""}],"modifiedDate":"2009-04-17T17:47:39Z","section":"Blotter","wordCount":321,"relatedTags":{"heading":"Related Topics","tags":[]},"lead":{"ratio":"16x9","disableForMobile":false,"type":"immersive","mediaType":"image"},"ads":{"Sticky":{"disabled":false,"kvps":{"test":true}},"RightRail":{"disabled":false,"kvps":{"test":true}},"InlineOutstream":{"disabled":false},"Taboola":{"position":"bottom","pageType":"article","config":{"network":"abcnews-abcnews","mode":"thumbnails-a","container":"taboola-below-article-thumbnails","type":"article","targetType":"mix","placement":"Below Article Thumbnails"}}},"featuredVideo":null,"featuredTags":{"tags":[]},"dateline":"April 16, 2009","seo":{"JSONLD":{"videoObject":{"name":"","description":"","uploadDate":"","thumbnailUrl":[null,null,null],"url":"","contentUrl":"","publisher":{"name":"ABC News","logo":{"url":"","@type":"ImageObject"},"@type":"Organization"},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","id":""},"duration":""}}},"LivePromotion":{}}},"balanceOfPower":{"balanceOfPower":{"electoral":{"header":"Biden Projected to be President-Elect","candidates":{"democrats":{"id":1036,"displayName":"Joe Biden","shortDisplayName":"J. 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