Last updated : December 16, 2024
One local man was arrested and charged in connection with what law enforcement officials have called the largest methamphetamine bust in the history of Atlanta.
A press release issued by Atlanta authorities Thursday, March 26 detailed how local officers and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents shut down the drug manufacturing operation, which police say was significant enough to supply Atlanta dealers and users with large amounts of meth. The estimated street value of the drugs confiscated was well over $10 million.
Law enforcement officers apparently discovered the operational meth lab while executing searches at two Atlanta homes located on Nelms Drive, a neighborhood situated on the southwest side of the city. Upon arrival, police found a working methamphetamine conversion laboratory set up in one of the homes and a significant amount of the drug that was being stored at the second residence.
The discovery of the meth operation resulted in the arrest of Armando Ayala, who is charged with trafficking methamphetamine, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Upon his arrest, Ayala was transported to the Fulton County Jail.
The search of Ayala’s properties yielded nearly 41 pounds of meth in its crystallized form, as well as an additional 50 gallons of the drug in its liquefied form. Authorities stated that quantity of the liquid material could have been used to make another 250 pounds of crystal meth. The amount of methamphetamines seized in the bust carried an approximate street value of more than $10.8 million. In addition to the drugs, investigators confiscated in excess of $35,000 in cash, a 9 mm handgun and three vehicles.
Law enforcement spend the overnight hours collecting evidence and cleaning up the scene with the help of the DEA’s clandestine laboratory team and the Atlanta Fire Department. Those crews were on hand to assist with processing items found in the lab and to ensure all hazardous materials were safely removed from the premises. Prior to leaving the two homes, DEA agents posted signs outside both properties warning the public about the potentially harmful chemicals that police removed from the property, as well as about the possibility that some hazardous substances may still remain in the buildings, or even in the ground surrounding the buildings.
According to The United States Forest Service, the safe removal of a meth lab is serious and dangerous business. The agency reports that those who cook the drug often dump the chemicals used to make it outside, either on the ground or in nearby bodies of water. The dangerous chemicals include battery acid and other poisonous materials. A lot of these substances are flammable and could trigger an explosion. This dumping practice can also leave the ground contaminated for months, even after the lab has been shut down.
In statewide media accounts of the historic drug bust, local and federal level authorities praised the work of the officers involved. Darryl Tolleson, Atlanta Deputy Chief of Criminal Investigations, stated that because of the hard work of the investigators, who spent countless hours on the case, authorities managed to halt a large-scale meth manufacturing outfit that would have continued pumping massive amounts of the drug into the community.
