The Fayette

County Sheriff's Department's Drug Task Force was lauded Thursday for

its participation in a federal drug sting that targeted a Mexican organization

distributing drugs in the metro Atlanta area.

Last week,

Fayette drug agents helped arrest 24 suspects and seize $3.1 million in

cash as over 200 law enforcement officers executed search warrants on

19 locations in metro Atlanta last week, said U.S. Attorney William S.

Duffey Jr. Authorities confiscated 254 kilograms of cocaine, 500 pounds

of marijuana, two pounds of methamphetamine and a half-pound of "ice,"

which is liquid methamphetamine.

The Fayette

drug agents played a crucial role in the sting, particularly with surveillance

operations, said W. Michael Furgason, Sr., special agent in charge of

the Drug Enforcement Administration.

"They're

a great narcotics team and they bring a lot of experience we rely on,"

Furgason said. "It's just that they're good cops."

Fayette County

Sheriff Randall Johnson said the bust was one of the biggest the department

has ever participated in.

"It's

the opportunity of a lifetime to be in on a drug bust this size,"

Johnson said.

The 24 suspects

have all been charged in federal court with conspiring to distribute and

sell drugs in the area, Duffey said. Most of those arrested were immigrants

living illegally in the country, Furgason added.

The bust was

announced at a news conference in Atlanta Thursday morning.

Although none

of the drug activity took place in Fayette County, Sheriff Johnson said

it is important to help cut drug trafficking in the area before they are

distributed here.

"We want

them (criminals) to know they'd better not come in here with it,"

Johnson said. "They know where the county line is now."

The Fayette

County Drug Task Force is comprised of agents from the Fayette County

Sheriff's Department, the Tyrone Police Department and the Pike County

Sheriff's Department.

Duffey said

the Armando Valencia organization would import the drugs from Mexico and

stash them in large vehicles such as tractor trailers for transport into

cities like Atlanta.

As the 18-month

investigation continued, it became more apparent that the Valencia organization

was very dangerous, Duffey said. When the search warrants were served

a gun, Duffey said.

Anyone who

sleeps with a weapon within arm's reach "is prepared to use it when

it has to be used," Duffey noted.

"These

are professional dealers," Furgason said.

Although no

connections could be made to the Valencia organization, federal drug agents

have learned that many unsolved homicides are tied to drug trafficking

in general.

Authorities

decided to target the Valencia organization because "it was the one

we knew the least about," Duffey said. The investigation revealed

the gang was very sophisticated in its operations, particularly in the

amount of time they spent trying to learn about law enforcement techniques.

Members of

the Valencia organization would spend as much time doing that counterintelligence

as they would actually selling the drugs, Duffey noted.

The goal of

the operation was to "dismantle" the Valencia organization,

Duffey said. The head of the organization, Armando Valencia himself, was

arrested in Mexico with cooperation from authorities there, Duffey said.

The drugs would

travel from Reynosa, Mexico to McAllen, Tex., to Atlanta and beyond to

Knoxville, Tenn., Furgason said.

Officers found

drugs in four metro Atlanta locations, at residences in Lilburn, Smyrna,

Norcross and Roswell, authorities said.

Although Duffey

refused to go into details about what agents learned about the Valencia

organization or how the investigation was conducted, he said agents used

just about every investigative tactic in the book.

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