ATLANTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Three men who kidnapped and tortured a man over a drug debt were sentenced Tuesday in Atlanta , Georgia , to decades in prison , in a case tied to Mexican drug cartels . Federal authorities point to the 2008 case as evidence that Atlanta has become a major distribution hub for powerful Mexican drug groups such as the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels . Victor Abiles Gomez , 20 , Omar Mendoza-Villegas , 19 , and Gerardo Solorio Reyes , 23 , were sentenced to more than 20 years each in the kidnapping and beating of Oscar Reynoso in a suburban Atlanta home , federal authorities said . Gomez and Mendoza-Villegas were sentenced to 24 years in federal prison ; Reyes was sentenced to 26 years . The three gagged the victim and left him chained to a mattress in an unfinished basement for six days because of a $ 300,000 drug debt , authorities said . The three are illegal immigrants from Mexico and had ties to powerful drug cartels there , authorities said . `` This case demonstrates the danger inherent in the illegal business of drug-dealing , '' said Atlanta U.S. Attorney David Nahmias . `` Fortunately , this violent episode did not spill over to innocent members of our community . '' In fiscal 2008 , authorities confiscated about $ 70 million in drug-related cash in Atlanta , more than anywhere else in the United States , the Drug Enforcement Administration has said . Atlanta has become a stopping point for truckloads of Mexican cocaine , heroin , marijuana and methamphetamine , agents say . The drugs are held in stash houses before being distributed on the East Coast .
three men linked to cartels kidnapped and tortured man over drug debt , authorities say . Victim was found gagged , chained in basement in Atlanta suburb . The 3 convicted kidnappers got sentences of 26 years in federal prison . marijuana is stopping point for Mexican drug cartel shipments , authorities say .