FBI Makes Substantial Arrests In Georgia Drug-Trafficking Case
FBI Makes Substantial Arrests In Georgia Drug-Trafficking Case
Federal and local law enforcement officers arrested 55 people Wednesday in connection with a major drug trafficking operation based in coastal Georgia. The arrests followed the execution of 56 federal arrest warrants tied to a trafficking network that distributed large quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA, crack cocaine, and marijuana in Glynn County and St. Simons Island.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Division led the operation, which involved more than 150 special agents, deputies, and local police officers. Assistance came from FBI field offices in Jacksonville, Dallas, Columbia, and Buffalo, as well as local law enforcement partners, the FBI said in a press release.
“This morning, FBI Atlanta, along with our federal, state and local partners, made a significant effort to crush violent crime here in the Glynn County community,” said Brian Ozden, assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta Division, during a news conference in Glynn County. “Our goal is not just to put people in handcuffs for a few days, but to build cases that dismantle criminal enterprises and keep our communities safe for the long term.”
Of the 56 people named in the federal indictment, 55 were taken into custody during early-morning raids across Georgia and in other jurisdictions. Officials said the final defendant is expected to surrender in the coming days.
Some of the suspects also face firearms charges in addition to drug trafficking counts. Authorities said the investigation revealed that members of the group traveled to major cities including Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Jacksonville to obtain drugs for distribution in Southeast Georgia. One defendant was allegedly in contact with a supplier in China who shipped multiple kilograms of controlled substances to the area.
Several SWAT teams were deployed to carry out what officials called some of the most dangerous arrests. FBI SWAT teams from Atlanta, Jacksonville, Columbia, and Dallas participated, alongside teams from the Glynn County Police Department and the Brunswick Police Department. Further arrests were made with assistance from FBI offices in Texas, South Carolina, and New York.
Brunswick Police Chief Angela Smith stated that the operation demonstrates to residents that law enforcement is actively addressing crime concerns within the community.
“Citizens have asked, ‘What are we going to do about crime?'” Smith said. “This operation is indicative of the work being done. Residents and visitors deserve to feel safe, and we will continue to dismantle criminal elements in our community.”
Chris Hosey, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, emphasized the significance of inter-agency collaboration in this case.
“This investigation required time, patience, precision and partnership,” Hosey said. “It reflects what happens when agencies work together with one mission: protecting the people of Georgia and upholding public safety.”
The FBI said the one remaining suspect is still at large but is expected to turn herself in to authorities soon.
FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted what he described as a record-setting first year at the helm of the bureau during an appearance on Fox News last week, citing major gains in capturing fugitives from the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. Patel appeared on “Hannity” after host Sean Hannity noted that the FBI has apprehended six of its Ten Most Wanted fugitives in just one year.
Hannity contrasted that performance with the previous administration, stating that only four fugitives from the list were captured over a four-year span.
Patel said the difference reflects a fundamental change in how the bureau operates.
“The simple juxtaposition is that there was a weaponized bureau, a politicized bureau to go after political targets including President Trump and myself, versus the bureau of today that goes based on law and facts and works with our prosecutors,” Patel said.
Three weeks after the suspected abduction of Nancy Guthrie in Tucson, neighbors unexpectedly released footage from their Ring cameras
Nancy Guthrie neighbors’ Ring camera captures vehicles on possible route from crime scene
Homeowner says authorities never canvassed their neighborhood despite living on back road near Nancy Guthrie’s home
Homeowners on Camino Real, a backroad out of the Catalina Foothills, say they have a camera facing the street that was not previously checked by authorities. (Credit: Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas)
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EXCLUSIVE: TUCSON, Ariz. — A resident in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood has a street-facing Ring camera that caught 12 cars passing by on the morning of Nancy Guthrie’s suspected abduction.
The recordings took place between midnight and 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, and some of the activity occurred near the 2:30 a.m. mark, which is around the time authorities said the 84-year-old Guthrie’s pacemaker device last synced with her iPhone.
The homeowners, Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, told Fox News Digital that police had not canvassed their neighborhood in the 25 days since Guthrie is believed to have been taken from her bed in a home invasion kidnapping. The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether the video is of any use to the investigation or whether the vehicle had ever been on Guthrie’s street.
Guthrie is the mother of “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie, a Tucson native.
Left: A still image from Ring camera video shows a vehicle passing a home near Nancy Guthrie’s on Feb. 1, the morning she is believed to have been abducted. Right: Nancy in an undated family photo. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas, Courtesy of NBC)
The Stratigouleas house is on a back road that leads out of Guthrie’s neighborhood, avoiding major intersections. And they live about 2.5 miles away from the crime scene, which is outside the 2-mile radius of neighbors who received a Ring alert asking for video taken from Jan. 1 to Feb. 2.
Their house is roughly a seven-minute drive from Guthrie’s address, according to Google Maps. One of their videos was recorded at around 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, which is roughly eight minutes after Guthrie’s pacemaker last synced with her iPhone, according to the sheriff’s timeline.
WATCH: Ring video shows vehicles on outskirts of Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood morning of abduction
Video
Danielle Stratigouleas said the number of cars passing that night was not unusual, but she and a friend found it “odd” that no one from law enforcement had visited her neighborhood.
NANCY GUTHRIE SUSPECT’S DIGITAL ‘BLACKOUT’ MAY BE KEY TO CASE, SAYS EXPERT WHO PROBED KOHBERGER PHONE
A map details the neighborhood surrounding Nancy Guthrie’s home on Camino Escalante in Tucson, Arizona, and a secondary route through the Catalina Foothills down Camino Real leading to East River Road. (Fox News)
A Ring camera image taken from video shows a vehicle driving south on Camino Real at 2:36 a.m. on Feb. 1, the morning Nancy Guthrie is believed to have been abducted from a home nearby in the Catalina Foothills of Tucson, Arizona. (Courtesy of Elias and Danielle Stratigouleas)
The FBI and Pima County Sheriff’s Department have been alerted to the video. It was not immediately clear whether it is of any use to the investigation.
Retired NYPD detective and national security expert Pat Brosnan reviewed the video with his team. He tells Fox News Digital they believe the vehicle seen at 2:36 a.m. is a Kia Soul, based on its slanted roof, window design and rear-quarter glass. He also noted the vertical break lights.
The rewards are still outstanding, and anyone with information they think may be relevant is asked to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
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The route itself had been flagged to Fox News Digital by another neighbor — who said she also saw a suspicious man walking in the area on Feb. 2, around the corner from what appeared to be an abandoned car. The young mother asked not to be named due to concerns for her children’s safety amid the unsolved kidnapping investigation.
