Wednesday, June 20, 2001
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Wednesday, June 20, 2001 |
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Sheriff's Department nets over $4 million in two drug busts By JOHN
MUNFORD
More than 150 kilograms of cocaine and 1,300 pounds of marijuana are off the streets thanks to two recent stings initiated by the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. Although both busts occurred outside Fayette County, it is believed a large part of the shipments were headed here, said Maj. Bruce Jordan of the Sheriff's Department. Saturday, the cocaine was seized from a rock quarry in DeKalb County when it was being unloaded from a tractor trailer onto a blue Isuzu Rodeo, Jordan said. Authorities seized $330,000 in cash and two houses, and much of those funds will likely be diverted to Fayette County, Jordan said. The federal Drug Enforcement Administration was asked to assist in the operation because the investigation revealed a multi-state ring involving a cocaine broker, Jordan said. Six undercover agents from the department worked the investigation for over a year, Jordan said. The DEA estimated the street value of the cocaine to be $3.3 million. "Talk about your lifetime achievement: a multimillion-dollar drug bust," Jordan said. Although no one was injured when deputies and DEA agents swarmed in, one of the suspects got away. That person has been identified and is being sought by authorities, Jordan added. Five arrests were made at the scene on charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine: J.B. Cucco, 61; Jay Cucco, 37; Vincent Johnson, 32; Cory Walker, 33; and Kemmit Hand, 30. Monday evening, the sheriff's department was involved in a large marijuana bust in Clayton County involving more than 1,300 pounds of marijuana, Jordan said. The estimated street value of that bust was $950,000, he added. More details on the marijuana bust were not available at press time. The Fulton and Clayton county sheriff's departments also participated in the investigation, Jordan said. Earlier in the week, the Sheriff's Department recorded several other marijuana busts that normally would have been significant, "30 pounds here and there," but they paled in comparison to the DeKalb cocaine bust. "This is just a really big seizure," Jordan said.
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