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County drug squad helps bust Mexico-Atlanta drug group

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizen.com

Undercover Fayette County drug agents played a role in a months-long investigation of a Mexican drug trafficking operation that netted 28 arrests Wednesday, authorities said.

The multi-state investigation also netted about 592 kilograms of cocaine, more than 40 pounds of methamphetamine and $8 million in cash, officials said. Multiple weapons and more than $1 million in cash was recovered in the metro Atlanta area alone.

The sting, called “Operation Long Whine,” also resulted in about two pounds of crystal methamphetamine — often referred to as “ice” — and the lab which was used to manufacture that drug, officials said.

Officials said the organization involved the distribution of drugs from Mexico to Atlanta, and also the collection and shipment of drug proceeds from cities along the East Coast that was routed back to Atlanta and then to Mexico.

The Fayette County Drug Task Force, an arm of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, was given a special commendation for their assistance on the case by Sherri Strange, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, at a press conference Thursday afternoon. The task force includes deputies from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office and one officer each from the Tyrone Police Department and the Pike County Sheriff’s Department.

This is the first investigation led by a special team of agencies to handle major international drug smuggling, and the team is named after former Peachtree City resident David G. Wilhelm, a former agent who was murdered March 11. The David G. Wilhelm Strike Force will include dozens of experienced agents from the DEA, FBI, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Internal Revenue Service, local officers and prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Nahmias said.

Warrants in connection with the case were served Wednesday morning at 16 locations in Lawrenceville, Marietta, Norcross, Duluth and Alpharetta, officials said.

“This case illustrates the recent trend in drug trafficking by major international cartels,” said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. “Metro Atlanta has become a major distribution hub for Mexican drug organizations, which smuggle huge amounts of cocaine and methamphetamine across the southwest border and then transport the drugs to Atlanta ... Huge amounts of drug proceeds flow back through Atlanta to Mexico.”

Strange said the agents’ work helped keep millions of dollars from being sent back to Mexico to produce more illegal drugs to be sent here.

“Today, DEA and its law enforcement partners have said to this organization, enough, you are finished, not in our town,” Strange said.