Police arrest 9 on major drug charges, criminal defense follows
With the dangers of opioids taking center stage, concerns about cocaine may have lessened in many Georgia communities. However, the cocaine trade appears to be running strong, as indicated by the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team’s recent arrest of nine persons and the seizure of 25 kilograms of uncut cocaine. Authorities say that the drugs have a $4 million street value, which they report to be the narcotics team’s biggest single cocaine bust. Criminal defense attorneys will now step forth to evaluate each of the defendants’ cases and determine if any of the police arrests were defective, unjustified or otherwise subject to attack.
Several federal agencies acted in collaboration with the county narcotics team to carry out what they dubbed “Operation Snow Plow.” The CNT director characterized the arrested persons as a “dangerous organization” and indicated that there was a conspiracy of dozens of people to distribute cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy and codeine. Both the federal and county drug enforcement spokespersons declared that Chatham County was now a better and safer place.
Also allegedly seized in the raids was 40 pounds of marijuana and other drugs, along with 21 firearms. Police claim to have also seized $430,000 in cash. At least one alleged major player remains at large and is being sought by authorities. With these arrests and the seizure of a sizable amount of drugs, law enforcement agencies may nonetheless be expressing overabundant optimism. Many big drug seizures and group arrests have occurred in the past several decades in Georgia and nationwide, but there is no evidence that drug volumes or the intensity of the demand has lessened in any way.
Further, whenever Georgia authorities engage in a dragnet that arrests a large number of people on drug charges at the same time, there are always inevitable mistakes. Handling several locations and/or many different search and arrest warrants often leads to mistakes and even the arrest of innocent persons. The criminal defense attorneys for each charged defendant are the only barrier that can now protect a possibly innocent person from the loss of freedom for a long time to come.
Source: savannahnow.com, “Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team seizes $4 million in cocaine during joint operation“, Brittini Ray, March 21, 2018