GAINESVILLE – “Operation Taking Care of Business” leapt into action Thursday morning across several northeast Georgia counties following an exhaustive eleven-month multi-agency investigation; that according to Vic Reynolds, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“The agents hit the ground running about 7:15 a.m. and they had in their possession arrest warrants and search warrants,” Reynolds said. He explained that agents split up into teams and focused on a dozen specific locations, most of them across northeast Georgia but a couple of places in metro- Atlanta, as well.
By the end of the day, Reynolds said, 48 suspects were in custody and 50-kilograms of methamphetamine and one-half gram of heroin were no longer headed to the marketplace. In addition, twenty firearms, $70,000 in cash and six vehicles were also seized.
Reynolds made his announcement late Friday morning in the Hall County Sheriff Office’s conference room, surrounded by law enforcement leaders from across northeast Georgia.
“When you have this type of inter-agency cooperation…you can put an end to a major, major methamphetamine and heroin trafficking/distribution ring in this area,” Reynolds added. “Criminal endeavors…do not stop at a county line; there’s no boundaries for them.”
Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman said, “This is not just a drug bust…these things trickle down. They create violent crime, they create property crime; they create the things that disrupt our communities.”
“We didn’t just take drugs off the street, we saved lives,” Freeman said.
The investigation, according to Reynolds, originated in August, 2019, following a local tip.
According to a release from the GBI: “From August, 2019, to the present, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO), the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Major Offender’s Task Force in conjunction with the Hall County District Attorney’s Office Force has been conducting an investigation into the drug trafficking organization of Luther Troy Summerfield, 43, Alejandro Ceja-Solano, 40, and others.”
Additional arrests are possible according to Reynolds. “I will tell you that I don’t think we are through. The agents are still working; they are still out on the street, so it would not surprise me if we don’t end up seeing more individuals arrested.”
The following individuals were in custody as of today in connection with Operation Taking Care of Business according to Nelly Miles, GBI Public Affairs Director:
- Tanya Lynn Allison, age 48-arrested
- Katlynn Marie Beaucaire-arrested
- Richard Daniel Burkett-arrested
- Dulcey Burton, age 51-arrested
- Alejandro Ceja-Solano-arrested
- Jose Alfredo Miranda Chavez-already in custody
- Jessica Marie Clark, age 28-arrested
- Noah Coker-in prison
- Mark Coker-arrested
- Joshua Collins- already in custody
- Kevin Cosper-arrested
- Robyn Samantha Dost, age 27-arrested
- Chelsea Dover, age 30-arrested
- Shelbi Eanes, age 25-arrested
- Juan Antonio Flores-custody in Gwinnett
- Brandi Nicole Freeman-arrested
- Jory Gee, age 33-arrested
- Roger Dale Gerrin, age 62-arrested
- Robert Green- already in custody in Lumpkin
- Dexter Grier, age 40-arrested
- Nucoma Grindle, age 42-arrested
- Dustin Floyd Groves- arrested
- Terry Harris, -arrested
- Christy Deresia Hedden-arrested
- Jerry Lee Helton-arrested
- Crystal Marie Herrin-arrested
- Brooke Barron Hicks-arrested
- Christopher Jackson, age 33-arrested
- Kimberly Ann Kennedy-arrested
- Richard Jason Maddox-arrested
- Marinela Romeiro Marquez-arrested
- Pablo Martinez-already in custody
- Shayna Millwood-arrested
- Allie Murray-arrested
- William Harrison Nicely-arrested
- Ashley Parker- already in custody
- Joshua Ray Phillips- custody already
- Kirstie Purvis-arrested
- Brianne Ross Rummell-already in custody
- Michael Rummel-arrested
- Coty Anthony Sanders-arrested
- Jeffrey Shane Seabolt—arrested
- Erin Sexton-arrested
- Jessie Elaine Smith-arrested
- Seantal Tiffany Smith-arrested
- Luther Troy Summerfield-arrested
- Delores Thomas –arrested
- Anthony Williams-in custody
Estimated street value of the drugs seized in “Operation Taking Care of Business” stands at $705,000.
