COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — The FBI, DEA, Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies have arrested 31 people on gang and drug trafficking charges, Thursday.
The Muscogee County Sheriff’s office says 19 of the people arrested have close ties to the Zohannon and Crips criminal street gangs. The remaining 12 people were arrested on state charges as part of the investigation.
The arrests were part Operation Sweet Silence, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operations. It was carried out by federal and local law enforcement from August 2022 through May 2022. The operation involved MCSO partnering with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Russell County Sheriff’s Office of Alabama, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office, US Marshal’s Services, and Georgia State Patrol.
Operation Sweet Silence investigated activities by the Zohannon criminal street gang, which allegedly involved armed drug trafficking.
Federal search and arrest warrants were carried out in Columbus.
Drugs including fentanyl and methamphetamine were recovered, as well as firearms such as a machine gun. Glock switches, which are used to make firearms operate as machine guns, were also seized.