GBI: $1.7 million in meth seized, 47 arrested in 'Operation The Real McCoy'
Several north Georgia law enforcement agencies join the GBI in announcing “Operation The Real McCoy” on June 24, 2020. (FOX 5)
PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. - A massive multi-agency drug and gang bust in north Georgia was announced Wednesday afternoon. The 9-month investigation was called “Operation The Real McCoy.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said they have shut down a meth trafficking operation that pipelined the dangerous drug from metro Atlanta to more rural counties. Investigators learned the drug deals were being brokered by inmates in prison, with one of the main players, working from behind bars in Sumpter County.
Officials said several gangs were working together to import the narcotics into DeKalb and Gwinnett counties before shipping those drugs off to Sumter, Effingham, Fulton, Clayton, DeKalb, Cobb, Cherokee, Gilmer, and Pickens counties.
Investigators were tipped off to the major operation last fall and said it took the cooperation of multiple agencies to make arrests and dismantle the operation.
Nearly 140 kilos of meth, valued at around $1.7 million was seized. In addition, nearly $100,000 in cash and several firearms were also taken into evidence. Investigators said they made a big dent in the supply of meth to north Georgia.
Meth seized during “Operation The Real McCoy” announced on June 24, 2020. (GBI)
More than 47 warrants including members of the Ghostface Gangsters, the Gangster Disciples, and the Sureños.
The GBI Gang Task Force was joined by the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, Homeland Security Investigations, the Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Pickens Sheriff’s Office, Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, Georgia Department of Corrections, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Barrow County Sheriff’s Office, the Gordon County Drug Task Force, Gwinnett County Gang Task Force and Special Investigation Section, DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office, the Cobb County Police Department and District Attorney’s Office, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, the Apex Unit from Atlanta Police Department, the West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the Georgia National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office.
Meth seized during “Operation The Real McCoy” announced on June 24, 2020. (GBI)
The GBI said the number of gangs working in Georgia has been growing in recent years with around 71,000 members living in the state.