Seven arrested after drug bust in northwest Georgia

LaFAYETTE - Seven people were arrested and another was being sought after police in northwest Georgia broke up what they say was a large-scale methamphetamine business that had been in operation for about six years. <br> <br> ``Witnesses tell of one sitting where they watched more than $100,000 in cash being counted on a table,&#39;&#39; Catoosa County Sheriff Phil Summers said. <br> <br> James E. Fowler, 37, of LaFayette, was one of the leaders of the operation, said Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson. <br> <br> Fowler and Gary Richard Jenkins, 40, also of LaFayette, were charged with conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine and were in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. <br> <br> The arrests were made Thursday, but authorities waited until Monday to announce them. <br> <br> Others arrested were Phillip Doyle Booth, 43, of Chickamauga; Regina Edgeman of East Ridge; Shawn Michael Frye, 30, of East Ridge; Christy McDaniel of Chickamauga; and Kelly Allan Horton, 37, of LaFayette. <br> <br> Authorities confiscated about $600,000 in property, including a house in Chickamauga.