The Fayette County Sheriff's

Department won national accolades earlier this month for its efforts in

a 2003 drug seizure case.

The award was bestowed at a

conference in Hilton Head, S.C., by a group of national drug fighters

for the department's efforts in stopping organized crime in Operation

Enigma, said Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan. The case was case of the year in the

region.

The operation was part of a

national operation involving several departments, including the Drug Enforcement

Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service

and the Sheriff's Department.

Jordan said the investigation

dismantled a large, violent organization that was transporting illegal

drugs north from Texas to Atlanta and the eastern seaboard.

Jordan said 32 phones were

tapped in the Atlanta region and there was also heavy surveillance on

the suspects.

When the take-down occurred

last August, agents seized $2.5 million, large quantities of cocaine,

methamphetamine and marijuana and 13 firearms.

Jordan said 24 arrests were

made, including a suspect nicknamed "27," because of the number

of people he had murdered for the drug organization.

Jordan said 32 total suspects

are charged with a variety of charges, including money laundering, drug

charges and firearms offenses.

Back

to News Home Page |