editorial4@thomastontimes.com

Nineteen people were arrested in connection with the alleged sale of illegal drugs as a result of a cooperative effort between law enforcement in several local area jurisdictions, including the Thomaston Police Department and the Upson County Sheriff's Office.

Among those arrested was Thomaston resident Mark Anthony Howard, 38.

During a press conference held Wednesday, May 13, Lamar County Sheriff Larry Waller announced that at 4:30 a.m. that morning, 85 law enforcement officers from the Lamar, Spalding, Upson and Monroe County sheriff's offices; the Barnesville, Thomaston, Milner and Griffin police departments, the Multi-County Narcotics Task Force, the Towaglia Circuit District Attorney's Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Department of Corrections; and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshall's Service, in a coordinated effort, made arrests for crack cocaine of 19 suspects of illegal drug sales. Warrants have been taken for 10 other suspects."They can run but they can't hide for long," Sheriff Waller said of the remaining suspects still at large.

"The roundup was the result of months of cooperative investigative effort and is yet another testament to the value of cooperation among law enforcement agencies. We have the talent and professionalism in all these agencies," Sheriff Waller said. "They will work together and bring equipment, manpower and expertise to any cooperating agency. That is the way it has to be to successfully wage the war on crime of all types."

"These crack cocaine arrests show the extent of drug violation and are why much attention is focused on crack as well as methamphetamines. Some of the dealers may deal in both drugs. Investigations are continuing for meth and crack dealers from the largest to the smallest," Waller continued.

"We anticipate that the drug trade will slow down for a short period of time, but we know there probably are other dealers who are jockeying to fill the positions of the dealers that have been arrested. We think they will come back, but we have knocked a good bit out of it for the time being," he added.

Barnesville Police Chief Chuck Keadle said, "Some of the suspects that were arrested we've probably been after them for 10 or 12 years on some real good cases and we're real proud to get those, especially a couple of them."

The investigation began Nov. 19, 2008 from information provided by informants and was concluded on Feb. 21, 2009.

Five pounds of marijuana, two and one half kilos of crack, one half kilo of cocaine, 40 grams of methamphetamine and cash were seized over the course of the investigation. Nine vehicles were seized during the May 13 operation, along with an undetermined amount of cash and illegal drugs. There were no firearms seized and no injuries were reported during the round up.

Those arrested were: Jaqueline Pryor of Macon; Mark Howard of Thomaston; Terry Cook, 25, of Forsyth; Cyrus Dumas Jr. 59, of Forsyth; Larry Ralls, 30, of Forsyth; William Weems, 29, of Griffin; Kelvin Greene, 30, of Barnesville; Tierra Johnson, 25, of Barnesville; Donnie Sullivan, 56, of Barnesville; Derrick Jackson, 39, of Barnesville, Richard Mathis, 25, of Barnesville ; Jarvis Akins, 28, of Barnesville; Dexter Foster, 26, of Barnesville; Artez Harris, 29, of Barnesville; Reginald Tamplin of Barnesville ; Shamika Sullivan of Barnesville; Alex Richardson; Krystal Daniel; and Nikki Maddox, 32, of Griffin.