Newnan Police were part of the Atlanta drug task force that led to three federal indictments unsealed on Tuesday in Atlanta charging a total of 41 defendants on multiple counts relating to a large scale drug distribution and money laundering scheme operating in the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Texas. The Newnan Police city drug unit was also called in for help with this operation.

In a news conference at U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Atlanta office announcing the takedown, U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said, “This is another case of a major cartel-related Mexican organization that processed huge amounts of illegal drugs and money through metro Atlanta to many other parts of the country.”

During this long tern investigation, we took away from the organization about $22 million dollars in drug money, a record amount for an Atlanta case, and hundreds of kilograms of the organization’s cocaine and marijuana. We have now indicted dozens of alleged members, who face long sentences in federal prison, Nahmias said. There were 8 arrest in Georgia and 9 in Texas Tuesday.