SAVANNAH, Ga. – When it comes to the war on illegal drugs, the Atlanta Drug Enforcement Administration is seeing some positive results while at the same time discovering new and, in some cases, enhanced illegal drug trends, especially in Southeast Georgia from Savannah to the Georgia-Florida line.
The Atlanta DEA office was one of 23 domestic DEA field divisions, along with seven foreign divisions, that took part in Operation Fentanyl Free America.
Agents said the purpose of the operation, which was conducted last fall, was to intensify the fight against deadly fentanyl trafficking by increasing pressure on the global fentanyl supply chain.
According to investigators, the increased pressure forced groups like Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel, designated as narco-terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department, to change their illegal business practices.
What they found
While agents focused on fentanyl trafficking, they also seized large amounts of other deadly drugs, the DEA said.
The Atlanta DEA office, which oversees all DEA investigations throughout the entire Peach State, said it seized 521 grams of counterfeit pills, 11 kilograms of fentanyl powder which is equivalent to 5.5 million potentially lethal doses, 306 kilograms of methamphetamines, 21 kilograms of cocaine, 475 kilograms of chemicals used to make illicit drugs, two pill press machines, 36 firearms, and more than $1 million in cash.
Michael Mayer, the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Office, met with News4JAX at the Savannah DEA office to discuss the impact of Operation Drug Free America, specifically in Southeast Georgia from Savannah to the Georgia-Florida border.
Positive outcome
Mayer said the operation has led to a positive trend when it comes to fentanyl overdoses.
“We saw a marked decrease. We saw the potency of the fentanyl pills we seized go down. Back in 2023, 7 out of 10 fentanyl pills had a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. Now, we’re seeing approximately 3 out of 10. It’s still too many and still too powerful and dangerous,” said Mayer, who also mentioned that mass overdoses have also declined.
Several years ago, mass fentanyl overdoses in Southeast Georgia prompted warnings from several local law enforcement agencies.
New smuggling tactics
Even though there has been tougher immigration enforcement on the Southern US border, the DEA is still seeing drugs being trafficked via vehicle into Georgia.
“Drug smugglers are tough. They’re not going without a fight. We’ve seen an increase in methods to hide and disguise the loads of drugs with cover loads, transporting some of the drugs in a liquid form and other creative manners to avoid detention,” said Mayer.
Mayer showed News4JAX pictures and videos of seized drugs that were being transported with produce.
Traditionally, when drugs have been trafficked with produce, the drugs are hidden under the produce, but Operation Fentanyl Free America revealed traffickers were concealing the drugs inside hidden panels of cardboard boxes that hold fruits and vegetables.
“This method is new. It’s small scale, but it ends up being massive amounts of trafficked drugs because of the number of boxes holding produce. More drugs come in by breaking it up into smaller shipments to evade detection,” Mayer explained.
Operation Fentanyl Free America has also revealed that in Southeast Georgia, there has been a greater demand for crystal meth, and the Mexican drug cartels have changed their smuggling tactics to meet that demand.
Mayer said the DEA is now seeing meth being trafficked in a liquid form before being processed into crystal to evade detection.
“We have seen an uptick in crystal meth for sure. It continues to be by volume the most prevalent drug we see in Southeast Georgia,” Mayer said.
Southeast ports targeted
In December, DEA Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter, who oversees the Miami DEA office, told News4JAX that Operation Fentanyl Free America revealed drug cartels were increasing efforts to traffic drugs into Florida through the Jacksonville Port.
Mayer said his office is seeing an uptick in a similar tactic.
“The Port of Jacksonville is a little bit of a different dynamic than the Port of Savannah, but we continue to see drug trafficking through the Port of Savannah and the Port of Brunswick. A lot of those drugs are destined for Europe, not all of them, but we are seeing an uptick in the ports,” Mayer said.
Fentanyl & cocaine
Despite a decrease in deadly fentanyl overdoses, the DEA says fentanyl is still popular in Southeast Georgia, especially purple fentanyl.
“Purple fentanyl appears to be the new trend that people, through marketing, are requesting. It’s regular fentanyl but it has been colored a special way. We’re seeing it in Savannah, Brunswick and all the way down to the Georgia-Florida line,” Mayer said.
The DEA continues to see cocaine smuggled into Southeast Georgia, but Mayer said synthetic opioids like meth and fentanyl have become a lot easier for the cartels to produce.
“The Mexican cartels have to get the cocaine from South America on consignment. Meth and fentanyl are synthetic, so it’s something the cartels can synthesize and create on their own,” Mayer explained. “They get the ingredients from China and can then create an abundance of meth and fentanyl. This allows them to control many parts of the supply chain and distribution, but when it comes to cocaine, they must rely on Colombian, Venezuelan, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian cartels to get something that grows out of the ground in those countries.”
I-95 corridor
Atlanta has long been identified by the DEA as an illegal drug distribution hub for the Southeastern United States.
Sinaloa, CJNG, and the La Nueva Familia Michoacana have been identified as the main three Mexican drug cartels that transport illegal drugs across the southern border directly to Atlanta, investigators said.
Many of those drugs are then distributed to areas in Southeast Georgia and across the state line into Florida.
But, although Atlanta is deemed the southeastern drug distribution hub, Mayer said his agents are also seizing drugs in Southeast Georgia that are being smuggled from Central Florida.
“We do see a lot of drugs from Orlando, Tampa, and Miami come up the I-95 corridor toward Brunswick and up into Savannah. We are currently working a number of cases where the primary supplier to this region is based out of Orlando,” Mayer said. “We’re seeing a little bit off I-10, but mainly I-95. Savannah, all the way down to Glynn and Camden counties, are directly affected by drugs supplied out of Florida.”
Despite security checks within the U.S. postal system, drugs continue to enter Southeast Georgia by mail.
“We see synthetic drugs mailed from the U.S. West Coast and all across the world,” Mayer said.
Law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, agree that guns and drugs go together and that a lot of gun violence in the streets can be traced back to illegal drug activity.
“What I’m seeing is that we’re getting lots of guns off the streets. We’re seeing Glocks with Glock switches that can be made fully automatic. M4s and rifle stocks. We’re seeing a lot of high-powered weapons that the DEA just -- through a normal course of our drug investigations targeting cartel members and drugs gangs -- were interacting with violent members and taking them off the streets,” Mayer said.
‘Affects all Americans’
Illegal drug activity in Southeast Georgia not only impacts people in places like Camden and Glynn counties, but also across the border in Northeast Florida, specifically the Jacksonville metropolitan area.
“The DEA and our state and local counterparts don’t see boundaries. We don’t see state lines, and the drug traffickers don’t either. We are working with the Jacksonville office, the Savannah office, our Miami field division, and the Atlanta field division to work collaboratively to provide community safety to residents of North Florida,” Mayer said. “The people in the News4JAX viewing area should know the drugs that come to Atlanta and Miami don’t stay there. They matriculate down I-95 and enter all communities. This is a problem that affects all Americans, so I hope News4JAX viewers know we’re working on their behalf to keep the streets safe. They should care because this is a global problem that affects every U.S. citizen.”