It is the eyes that often betray a drugged driver. If they are glassy or blood shot, pupils dilated or constricted, or if they exhibit a jerky motion when following a smooth horizontal movement, it tells a police officer a lot about the type of drug someone has used. But not if they don't know what to look for. An advanced police training course gaining in popularity in Georgia called the drug recognition expert program goes a step beyond Standardized Field Sobriety training, which is focused on alcohol impairment, to help police identify if a driver is under the influence of drugs. [continues 515 words]
Bath salts and synthetic marijuana, two relatively new drugs that are technically legal because manufacturers keep reformulating them, are becoming an increasing concern for law enforcement because of their unpredictable effects. The Georgia Pharmacy Board last month issued an emergency order that temporarily gives all state and local law enforcement officers the authority to seize the two products, even though the new formulations of synthetic marijuana aren't technically illegal and the persons selling them cannot be charged criminally. Within days, several local police departments were taking on the charge. The Cherokee County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad seized 6,200 packages of synthetic marijuana at locations in Canton, Woodstock, Ball Ground and Holly Springs. [continues 482 words]
Federal Funding Runs Out, Forcing Local Officers to Pay for Cleanup It's anyone's guess now whether methamphetamine production is rising or falling in Georgia. That's because a funding flap in Washington has thrown what was previously the best system for counting clandestine meth labs into uncertainty. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which used to track the number of meth labs by counting the number of requests for financial assistance from local law enforcement agencies, can no longer rely on that method. Federal funding for disposing of the toxic waste from clandestine meth labs ran out nine months ago, forcing police departments and sheriff's offices in Georgia to pick up a tab that last year amounted to more than $500,000. [continues 449 words]
Zack Elliott was slumped in the back seat of his grandfather's car when children from "The Bluff" found him. The 21-year-old drove from his Newnan home into the notorious haven for heroin in northwest Atlanta before dawn May 1 looking for a fix. Some time during the night, he pulled over on a side street to shoot up. Quietly and alone, he succumbed to his vice one last time and died of an overdose. Elliott fits a profile the U.S. Department of Justice found during a 2010 analysis of Atlanta's drug market: More young Caucasians are traveling from suburban counties into the city to buy heroin. They buy a gram for about $160 and return home to abuse the drug and sell the leftovers, the analysis says. [continues 1310 words]
On Feb. 17, the Spring Mill neighborhood was abuzz with firefighters, police officers, paramedics and gawkers after a meth lab explosion caused a fire that killed three young children. But what happened to the house after the chaos died down, the children were buried, 4,555 grams of liquid meth were carted away and three people were charged? Not much, neighbors say. Becky Bridges is confronted with a ghastly reminder of what happened each time she comes and goes from her neighborhood because the house sits at the entrance. It's vacant, its windows boarded, its shrubs unkempt. Hot pink fliers tacked to the facade warn people that the home was once a clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of illegal drugs. [continues 680 words]
The stories are real. The experiences are harrowing. And the messages appear to be effective. A year after its $4 million advertising campaign rolled out, The Georgia Meth Project will release this week a survey that found 52 percent of teenagers believe there is "great risk" in taking methamphetamine just once or twice. That's an 11 point gain over the benchmark survey conducted last year, before the messaging campaign hit the airwaves. More young people also believe that using meth will negatively influence a younger sibling and increase the risks of losing control, suffering brain damage and stealing, the survey said. [continues 910 words]
Jacob Samter had two ways of relieving anxiety: swimming and heroin. Swimming led the energetic 22-year-old to coaching jobs at Chattahoochee High School and the YMCA. Heroin led him to his grave. On Feb. 4, Samter's parents woke to find him slumped on the floor beside his bed in their Alpharetta home. A powdery white residue, likely the dregs of his last heroin hit, was on the nightstand. Samter's death was the culmination of 12 years of dabbling with drugs that relatives said took a turn for the worse when he got hooked on heroin in 2009. The family hired a psychiatrist and a social worker to help him. It worked for a while, but he relapsed over the holidays. [continues 1342 words]
No Money Left to Dismantle Toxic Meth Operations and State Looks for Way to Cover Costs Federal money for cleaning up toxic methamphetamine labs has run out, leaving police agencies across Georgia wondering how they're going to pay a tab that amounted to more than $500,000 last year. The Drug Enforcement Administration had $2 million at the start of the fiscal year to reimburse local governments for meth lab cleanup costs. Congress was expected to appropriate an additional $10 million through the remainder of the fiscal year. [continues 548 words]
Georgia law enforcement agencies who helped federal agents dismantle two Mexican drug trafficking organizations got a sweet reward on Thursday. Five state and local police agencies received a share of a total of $23 million dollars in cash that was confiscated from drug cartels during an investigation dubbed Operation Four Horsemen. The money was one its way back to Mexico to line the pockets of drug kingpins when authorities intercepted it. Now, those ill-gotten gains will be used to finance new equipment and officer training in an extremely tight budget year. [continues 471 words]
That's why police recently evacuated a swath of downtown Conyers, closed an elementary school and shut down a stretch of road late last month when police discovered ingredients used to make meth in the back of a pickup truck. If the suspects had actively been cooking meth in a bottle at the time, the results could have been disastrous. "If you were to take the top off real fast it would explode," said Sgt. James Carson of the Conyers Police Department. "One of these [bottles] could blow up a whole car." [continues 718 words]
Gwinnett police say they can't account for thousands of dollars' worth of equipment assigned to the narcotics unit, the same unit being investigated by the Georgia Bureau Investigation because of some missing cocaine. Equipment that disappeared from the department's narcotics unit was worth about $13,000 new, and about $5,000 after depreciation, according to Gwinnett police spokesman Officer Brian Kelly. Most is computer-related, such as external CD drives, recording equipment and portable memory devices. "Nobody can say with any kind of certainty whether this is stuff that has been stolen or if it is stuff that has been mislaid and not properly accounted for," Kelly said. [continues 446 words]
Gwinnett County's crackdown on drug cartels has led to a trafficking jam in court. Local-federal task force investigations that resulted in hundreds of arrests have also spawned huge multi-defendant cases that are now clogging the docket. The largest and most daunting of these cases involves 71 defendants who are allegedly connected to the La Familia drug cartel based in Mexico. La Familia controls most of the crystal methamphetamine market in the United States. Last October, authorities seized 174 pounds of crystal meth and arrested 35 people throughout metro Atlanta after raiding a house containing one of the cartel's labs in Lawrenceville. [continues 1020 words]
Gov. Sonny Perdue today announced that he has signed a bill to outlaw K2, also known as synthetic marijuana. The substance sold at some local smoke shops became a subject of concern in March after two teens were hospitalized at North Fulton Medical Center with ill effects from smoking it. K2, also known as "spice," mimics the effects of THC, the chemical in marijuana. Nearly a dozen states and some cities are banning or debating bans on K2 out of fear that its popularity may be on the rise among young people, according to USA Today. [continues 51 words]
A third of Georgia teens see little to no risk in trying methamphetamine, and a fifth of them say it's easy to get. The alarming statistics come from a new statewide survey released this week by the Georgia Meth Project, a public education campaign aimed at preventing first-time use. The 2010 Georgia Meth Use & Attitudes Survey examined the attitudes and behaviors of teens, young adults, who are just out of high school, and parents. It was conducted over a period of several months among samples of 2,432 teens, 314 young adults and 400 parents of teens. [continues 386 words]
If metro Atlanta is a battleground in the war against drug trafficking in the United States, then Gwinnett County is on the front lines. That's no secret to police or the residents who live there. A bountiful supply of rental homes and the state's largest Latino population have made the county a magnet for Mexican drug cartel operatives looking to blend into their surroundings. Federal prosecutors say the county is the epicenter of the Southeast region's drug trafficking activity. Gwinnett is also designated as a high intensity drug trafficking area (HIDTA) by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, along with 19 other counties in metro Atlanta and central North Carolina. Jack Killorin, the director of the Atlanta HIDTA, says investigations into cartel activity typically have a tie in Gwinnett. [continues 1383 words]
Charges Likely Against Gwinnett Drug Investigators Two former Gwinnett County narcotics investigators are likely to face criminal charges for stealing money reserved for undercover drug buys, a department spokesman said Friday. Lt. David Butler, who supervised narcotics and prostitution investigations, resigned July 16 after being confronted about an unknown amount of cash that disappeared from a safe containing "buy money." His subordinate, Officer Vennie Harden, also is suspected of pocketing buy money earlier this year. Harden resigned in lieu of termination July 13. [continues 184 words]
The man who lived on a quiet cul-de-sac in Forsyth County appeared to be an ordinary guy. He ran a small fencing company. His grade-school-aged children played with others in the subdivision. His lifestyle was simple and unassuming. Neighbors in the Whisper Walk subdivision in Cumming had no idea that Paul Longoria was using his business as a front for cocaine trafficking until authorities arrested him in 2007. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on felony drug charges a year later in federal court. [continues 759 words]
FBI Says Mexican Cartel Used Homes As Bases. Raids in North Fulton, Gwinnett Net 17 Arrests, Millions in Cash, Cocaine. The blue house, or "la azul" as the drug-runners called it, is a nondescript ranch with a well-kept yard, like so many others lining Cruse Road in Lawrenceville. Federal authorities say that's exactly why the Gulf Cartel chose it. The house was one of 11 low-key bases of operation that the powerful Mexican drug trafficking organization used in its enterprise, police said. [continues 441 words]
Gwinnett County police drug investigators on Wednesday served a "no-knock" search warrant and forced entry into a Lawrenceville house, but soon discovered they were at the wrong address. In a news release, a Gwinnett police official said it was "a case of human error and not deliberate malfeasance on the part of the investigator." The investigators intended to serve the search warrant at a home on Valley Spring Drive in Lawrenceville about 9:15 a.m. One of the investigators mistakenly pointed out a house nearby. [continues 409 words]
Gwinnett County police say there has been a marked decrease in traffic collisions since its Highway Interdiction Team --- primarily focused on nabbing drug traffickers --- began patrolling the interstates early this year. There were 500 fewer accidents on I-85 and I-985 during the six-month period from March 1 to Oct. 1, compared to the same time frame last year, said Gwinnett police spokesman Cpl. David Schiralli. The number of accidents dropped from 1,905 in 2007 to 1,434 in 2008. That is about two fewer accidents every day, Schiralli said. [continues 225 words]
