Their job is to take street and mid-level drug dealers off the streets of Fairburn, Palmetto, College Park, Hapeville and East Point. They are Tri-Cities Narcotics Task Force and their efforts are paying off in the millions.

Initiated in 1989 and funded by federal grants, Tri-Cities Commander J. Midkiff said that in the past five years the efforts of working the multiple jurisdictions has resulted in the seizure of drugs with a street value of $31,212,652. During the same period the task force has made 2,138 arrests. Those figures come directly from the streets of the participating cities and do not include the large operations across the metro area in which Tri-Cities participates with Georgia Bureau of Investigation and federal agencies such as U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigrations and Naturalization Service (INS), U.S. Customs, U.S. Postal Service and other local and regional task forces.

“Our operation is set to handle street sales and mid-level dealers,” Midkiff said. “Because of that, this agency bases its investigations and operations on information forwarded to us by citizens and law enforcement. And we always want the public to assist.”

Tri-cities local efforts have also led to asset forfeitures such as vehicles and a variety of electronic equipment totaling approximately $350,000, he said.

Midkiff said that once a tip has been received Tri-cities proceeds with an investigation. Those investigations, he said, are done methodically to determine the validity of the information they obtain. Midkiff stressed that any information obtained by Tri-Cities is confidential.

Much of the work done by Tri-Cities field agents includes conducting controlled buys from drug dealers, Midkiff said, though that activity is sometimes accomplished by informants working in conjunction with agents. Those operations result in the seizure of marijuana, cocaine or methamphetamine in quantities ranging from a few grams to several pounds. Other operations include controlled deliveries, where larger quantities of drugs have been shipped from locations outside the metro Atlanta area and often from locations across the country.

“We continue to see a lot of drugs coming in from Texas and the Southwest, especially from California and from Mexico,” said Midkiff. “Meth is usually more local in origin but it has really picked up in the last few years. We’ve also seen increases in ice (a extremely potent form of methamphetamine) and we’re beginning to see more designer drugs like Extacy (also known as MDMA, MDM and Adam). It’s interesting that we often see an influx of drugs when large-name rock bands come to Atlanta, especially the designer drugs.”

Midkiff reiterated that many of the drugs taken off the streets of South Fulton County originate in tips provided by citizens. Tri-Cities Narcotics Task Force can be contacted in confidence at 404-761-2020 or at the task force website at www.tricitiesnarcotics.com.

login to post comments