From the Sheriff’s Desk:

As many will remember, in the last two years the former Appalachian Drug Task Force has grown from the original four counties and now covers a much larger area of North East Georgia. The new partnership includes the Sheriff’s Offices of Towns, White, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, and Habersham Counties, Georgia State Patrol, Georgia Bureau of Investigation, District Attorney’s Offices of the Enotah, Mountain, and Piedmont circuits, as well as the Cities of Cleveland and Toccoa.

The Appalachian RDEO is one of three Georgia Bureau of Investigation supervised RDEOs in the state. The other two cover the Savannah/Chatham County area and West Metro Atlanta area. It is worth noting that even though Appalachian RDEO is new and half of the agents are newly employed as agents, Appalachian RDEO has more than kept pace with the other two RDEOs in the number of cases worked and arrests made.

At the ARDEO we are committed to taking criminals off the street. All agree that the expanded coverage area enhances the investigative process. In Towns County, we have been very successful in taking local drug dealers off the street and a lower crime rate has proven our point that crime revolves around the drug trade. The ARDEO has extended the reach of our investigations and we are able to assist in dismantling supply lines, making it harder for the drugs to reach our community in the first place. From 2012 to March, 2016, we assisted the ARDEO in investigating crimes that led to arrests and seizures of over $36,000,000.

Crime and criminals don’t respect county or state lines. We have developed good relationships with the authorities in neighboring North and South Carolinas. Together, we are making a serious impact on the drug trade and the numbers show it. Just this past week, with assistance from the White County Sheriff’s Office, we were able to take down a drug trafficker who was supplying area drug dealers.

I am very thankful for the partnerships that have been developed and maintained over the past several years. By working together with these other agencies, we can continue to have an impact and send a clear message to drug dealers that they are not welcome, not only in our wonderful county, but in our region. I am confident that our partners would agree with me in saying this is about protecting our children and not about who gets credit for the arrest.