Last updated : December 16, 2024
Atlanta law enforcement authorities have put the brakes on a large-scale methamphetamine manufacturing operation that was formidable enough to produce massive quantities of the drug.
Police say the amount of drugs confiscated at the scene totaled in excess of $10 million, and that the bust constituted the biggest of its kind in the city’s history.
According to a Thursday, March 26 announcement from Atlanta police, investigators with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and local officers were in the process of searching a pair of Atlanta residences when they uncovered the working meth lab.
Arrested as a result of the discovery was Armando Ayala, who was booked at the Fulton County Jail on several drug-related charges including meth trafficking.
Following a search of the property, police seized approximately 41 pounds of crystal meth and an additional 50 gallons of the drug in a liquid state. Police say the liquid compound would have been enough to manufacture an additional 250 pounds of crystal meth. The value of these drugs, if sold on the street, was estimated at over $10.8 million. Aside from the drugs found at the scene, officers also confiscated more than $35,000 in cash, three vehicles and a handgun.
Much like other street drugs, meth is known by many names. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration lists 26 different names for the stimulant, including biker’s coffee, chalk, crank, glass, ice, poor man’s cocaine, stove top and trash. It is described as a fairly versatile drug, in terms of how it is consumed – it can be ingested, snorted, injected or smoked. Standard methamphetamines typically come in either pill or powder forms, while crystal meth looks similar to small pieces of glass or shiny, light blue rocks.
National Institute on Drug Abuse data indicates methamphetamines are a growing problem in the Atlanta area. The number of public treatment admissions for methamphetamine addiction showed a steady annual increase since 2010, with the rate of individuals seeking help swelling by 5.2 percent in 2010. Treatment admission figures grew to 5.7 percent in 2011 and by another 6.4 percent during the next year. In the first six months of 2013, NIDA reported a 6.8 percent jump in the population obtaining treatment for methamphetamine dependence, the highest proportion of people in Atlanta seeking this type of assistance since 2006.
Also in 2013, NIDA reports the Georgia State Medical Examiner’s Office saw a higher number of fatalities linked to methamphetamine use for the fiscal year 2013, when compared to findings documented during the fiscal year 2012. The National Forensic Laboratory Information System statistics, which are included in the NIDA report, also showed that for the first time ever, methamphetamine-related drug reports surpassed the number of reports for all other drugs recorded in the NFLIS data for Atlanta.
On a national scale, the increasing number of methamphetamine seizures has been keeping the DEA busier with each passing decade. Back in 1993, the DEA reported 560 meth seizures. In 2003, that number rose to 1,680, and by 2013, the DEA recorded 3,990 of these types of drug seizures.
