A pair of months-long investigations conducted by the sheriff’s offices in Cherokee and Clay counties have led to two drug bust operations barely a week apart.
Cherokee County investigators arrested 10 people shortly after 6 a.m. Tuesday as part of “Operation NARCAN,” according to Lt. Drew Payne with the sheriff’s office. Investigators served warrants on two residences inside the Murphy city limits, one just outside town on Old Ranger Road and another on Maltby Road in Marble.
Payne said authorities seized 31 grams of fentanyl and 11 grams of methamphetamine from the residence on Old Ranger Road alone. Thirteen grams of heroin were confiscated from the Marble home.
“We’ve been working several cases since about December,” Payne said. “We’ve done four search warrants today, and each house or residence that we hit we’ve had controlled buys out of.”
Multiple firearms were also seized during the bust.
Investigators were still processing evidence as of the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday. More detailed information about those arrests will be included in the March 2 edition.
Just seven days earlier, “Operation Ice Mountain” led to warrants for 15 people across the two counties and resulted in a handful of additional arrests during a Feb. 15 bust. Most of the suspects arrested face charges related to selling and delivering various drugs including heroin, cocaine and meth.
Clay County Sheriff Bobby Deese said that bust focused on local, lower-level dealers, as most suspects had smaller amounts of drugs. Six of the individuals arrested are from Cherokee County.
“We changed our approach a bit and focused on information that involved informants and undercover buys,” Deese said. “We just focused really hard on anyone possessing a controlled substance. ...
“We just kind of rolled this all into one operation, honestly just trying to make an impact by getting several people at once.”
Authorities began knocking on doors of suspected drug dealers around 7 a.m., when most of the suspects were still asleep. Cherokee County sheriff’s investigators and agents from the U.S. Marshal’s Office assisted in the arrests.
“We do know for a fact that a lot of the people in Cherokee County, they’re not dealing with a local dealer, they’re traveling to Atlanta and picking up their drugs,” Payne said.
“We work closely with the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) ... and hopefully can stop some of that. But it’s just coming into Georgia from Mexico and it’s hard to slow that down.”
Deese said at-home meth labs continue to be part of a fading trend, with more drugs smuggled into the state. Payne said local dealers often start trafficking after serving time in prison.
“They go to jail for a long time and meet people who have those connections,” Payne said.
Deese said stolen property was also recovered during the searches, which will add to some of the existing drug charges.
“This stuff is killing us,” Deese said. “There’s so many overdoses. In fact, two of our deputies recently revived two people who had overdosed.”
The following people were arrested during Operation Ice Mountain:
- Joseph Wayne Roberts, 21, of Murphy: Charged with trafficking in heroin and manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin. He was transported to the Cherokee County Detention Facility and given a $75,000 secured bond with a court date of March 14.
- Spenser Wade Hendrix, 22, of Murphy: Charged with two counts of maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance, manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine, manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin and trafficking in heroin. He was transported to the Cherokee County Detention Facility and given a $75,000 secured bond with a court date of March 14.
- Jeffery Edward Welborn, 48, of Marble: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance, manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine, manufacturing, selling and delivering cocaine and manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin. He was transported to the Cherokee County Detention Facility and given a $20,000 secured bond with a court date of March 14.
- Coty Evan Jackson, 29, of Murphy: Charged with possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver heroin, possession of methamphetamine.
- Amber Nicole Johnson, 32, of Murphy: Charged with possession with intent manufacture/sell/deliver Schedule II controlled substance, possession of Schedule I controlled substance, maintaining place controlled substance, simple possession Schedule IV controlled substance.
- Andrew David Bennett, 20, of Murphy: Charged with possession of heroin.
- Kiefer Benjamin Whitener: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance, manufacturing, selling and delivering a schedule III controlled substance. He was given a $45,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Frank Leon Woodard: Charged with manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. He was given a $35,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Jeremy Paul McCreary: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance and manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. He was given a $45,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Lois Jean McCreary: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance, manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin, manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine and manufacturing, selling and delivering cocaine. She was given a $100,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Autumn Leanne Bateman: Charged with manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin, manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine and manufacturing, selling and delivering cocaine. She was given a $100,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Velma Leigh Smith-Ledford: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance and manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. She was given a $40,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Steve Darren Stewart: Charged with maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance and manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. He was given a $40,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Leslie Dale Beattie: Charged with two counts of maintaining a dwelling for keeping and selling a controlled substance and two counts of manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. He was given an $80,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Victoria Dineen Hancock: Charged with manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. She was given a $35,000 secured bond with a court date of Monday.
- Christopher George Alberta: Charged with manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. He is already incarcerated on unrelated charges.
- Ivy Rea Lucas Sams: Charged with manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine. She is already incarcerated on unrelated charges.
Also involved in this investigation, Shalees Marie Greenlee has outstanding arrest warrants for trafficking in heroin, manufacturing, selling and delivering heroin and manufacturing, selling and delivering methamphetamine.
Jared Putnam is editor of the Cherokee Scout, while Becky Long is publisher and editor of the Clay County Progress. There will be updates in next week’s edition.