GBI AND METRO NARCOTICS TASK FORCE HAVE WARRANTS FOR MORE THAN 120 DRUG DEALERS

Agents: Suspects Were Not Part Of Unifiied Organization

A 10-month undercover investigation has led to arrest warrants for
more than 120 street-level drug dealers in Columbus and the seizure of
thousands of dollars worth of drugs and weapons.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Tuesday that
approximately 60 individuals have been arrested and more than 60
others are being sought for various drug-related offenses in
connection with this extensive operation that was worked jointly with
the Metro Narcotics Task Force. Plain-clothed officers saturated
neighborhoods throughout Columbus in order to identify suspects. Most
of the narcotics purchases took place, however, in and around public
housing developments in the city.

The drug charges stem from information provided by informants and cold
undercover buys, said Bill Malueg, deputy director for the GBI. Those
arrested face a slew of charges ranging from sale of marijuana,
cocaine, ecstacy and methamphetamine to possession of a firearm during
the commission of a felony.

"The last time that we had an operation this size in Columbus was 15
years ago, 20 years ago," Malueg said. "We have had others that have
been as successful in Albany and over in the Savannah area, but this
is the first one of this type that's been in the Columbus/Muscogee
County area for years."

Malueg said those arrested were not part of a larger drug
organization, but dealers distributing on the street level.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said he knew something needed to be
done about the drug problem in the city by the number of phone calls
he was fielding daily from concerned residents regarding narcotics use
in their neighborhoods. To initiate the investigation, Boren, along
with Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson, requested help from the
GBI, which contributed grant money, experience and manpower to the
operation beginning in July 2006.

"We would like to tell the citizens," Boren said, "that when they were
calling us all along and complaining about street-level drug deals and
dealers in their neighborhoods we were in fact at that time doing
stuff about it. We just could not release it to the public at that
time as to what we were doing, but all the areas where we received
complaints through my office, the sheriff's office or wherever at this
time were funneled back over to the Metro Narcotics Task Force and the
undercovers were sent in to those areas for those street-level purchases."

The GBI's State Drug Task Force and the Metro Narcotics Task Force
contributed more than $120,000 to the initiative, most of which was
previously seized drug money. Metro alone pitched in $26,000 in seized
drug money to buy narcotics.

"It's just another example of law enforcement working together toward
a common goal and that's to get the drugs off the streets," Sheriff
Johnson said. "And we'll continue to do it."

Despite the number of arrests and charges, Malueg said their dealings
with those who peddle drugs in Muscogee County are far from over.

"There are other warrants out here that we have not served," Boren
said. "And there are other individuals we are attempting to identify
as we speak that we do not have warrants for at this time... . So it
should have a strong impact in our area as well as the surrounding
areas. I hope it lets them know that we are aware of what's going on
in the streets... and there will be other operations just like the one
that you see here today."

No one was injured in the operation, although the potential for
violence is there, especially when dealing with those who sell drugs,
said Rick Stinson, special agent in charge with the Metro Narcotics
Task Force.

"Drug usage on the street level and mid-level is bad in every
community including Columbus," Malueg said. "It breeds violence."