Receiving a request for assistance, the Liberty County Multi Agency Crack Enforcement Drug Task Force aided the Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team and the Richmond Hill Police Department in Friday’s sting that netted 24 arrests.
Authorities hope to have broken up an alleged prescription drug sale ring that involved young adults and juvenile offenders.
According to MACE Unit Commander Al Cato, four of his agents were asked to search for and apprehend two suspects living in Liberty County. The search was the result of a four-month investigation, primarily in the Richmond Hill area, where undercover agents were able to allegedly buy controlled substances, mostly prescription drugs, but also LSD and marijuana.
One of the suspects apprehended by MACE was Christopher Glover of Midway. Cato said his agents were familiar with Glover due to unrelated incidents involving him in the past.
Cato said his agents were also looking for Christopher Hair and went to a residence in Liberty County where they believed he lived. Instead, they met with Hair’s ex-girlfriend, Sarah Hill.
Hill was reportedly able to provide sufficient evidence to help agents track Hair to South Carolina, where he was apprehended by local authorities.
Hill was later charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
In a press release, Richmond Hill Police Chief Billy Reynolds said, "The investigation resulted from shared intelligence between the agencies on a loosely associated group of individuals."
"Billy (Reynolds) was getting a lot of complaints about prescription drugs and so was (Bryan County Sheriff’s Office drug agent) Butch Ward," CNT Commander Roy Harris told reporters. "Butch and Jack (RHPD Cpl. Frost) worked the investigation together. The Armstrong Atlantic Police Department came up with another piece to the puzzle, and some arrests were made."
Drug buys included marijuana and LSD as well as the following prescription drugs: oxycontin, Xanex, hydrocodone, clonapine, lorcet and adderrol.
The Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Marshals also assisted in the arrests, which took place Friday. Suspects were arrested in Bryan and Chatham counties, with one made in Orlando.
Reynolds said 17 of the suspects are from Bryan County. He said they are not in one concentrated area, but rather spread out throughout the county. He also said most of them range in age from 17-22.
CNT Cmdr. Roy Harris said many of the suspects probably grew up together in Richmond Hill, since they are "roughly the same age and the ones who do not currently live there or have at one time."
Harris said the drug arrests are uncommon because most of the young men "come from good families and live a bit of a privileged life."
