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90 arrests in big Georgia meth bust

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Published  January 8, 2021 6:10pm EST
Butts County
FOX 5 Atlanta

Major drug bust throughout 12 Georgia counties

Authorities say around 90 arrests are expected in the end of a methamphetamine drug investigation.

JACKSON, Ga. - A big drug investigation that law enforcement dubbed Crystal Web in 12 Georgia counties that targeted methamphetamines was expected to end with more than 90 arrests. 

Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said this meth network was dealing about 22 pounds of methamphetamines a week. He called it a large operation and believed law enforcement had dismantled it from the top down.

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Sheriff Gary Long of Butts County

The roundup of suspects started early Friday morning and continued late in the afternoon.  More than 90 suspects in both Butts and Spalding Counties. 

Standing in front of a large display with some of the faces involved in the meth network.  Sheriff Long says the investigation started in his county but then quickly spread outward.

"We could have took down what we had here but then we would have still had problems all over the state of Georgia," Long said.

Joshua James Harrison

At the top of the network, investigators said is a man named Joshua James Harrison, 38. He is facing drug and racketeering charges. Second in line in the operation, they said, is Kimberly Chapman, 53. She too is facing similar charges.

Law enforcement said the network was dangerous and wreaking havoc on families throughout middle Georgia.

Sheriff Darrell Dix (in the hat) joins some of the other Georgia sheriffs and law enforcement officers involved in the operation.

"You hear about people cutting off the head of a snake and that's what we did was cut the head off of a very large snake in Georgia," said Sheriff Darrell Dix of Spalding County.

Investigators said they seized around 10 pounds of meth in the operation. The investigation involved other sheriff's offices as well as agents from the GBI, FBI, and US Marshals. They said the investigation continues and could lead to more arrests beyond the charges taken on the 90 people.

DA Marie Broder of the Griffin Judicial District

"Drug dealers need to pack up and get out," said District Attorney Marie Broder of the Griffin Judicial Circuit, who will prosecute the more than 20 arrests in Spalding County. The remainder, about 70 arrests, happened in Butts County.

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