Drug investigators charge 7 men with trafficking - Gainesville Times

The Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad made a series of felony drug arrests Monday and Tuesday, arresting seven Georgia residents and netting more than $24,000 in street value of illegal drugs.

"They're all independent of one another," MANS Lt. Scott Ware said of the investigations. Ware heads the unit, a joint Hall County Sheriff's Office and Gainesville Police Department drug investigative unit.

Alex Xavier Billini, 24, a Duluth resident, was charged with trafficking cocaine and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute. He was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and possession of marijuana, Ware said.

A second man, David Enrique Santiago-Irizarry, 24, a Norcross resident, was charged with trafficking cocaine and possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.

The men, both Puerto Rican, were arrested Monday in the 4800 block of Golden Parkway in Buford, Ware reported.

Agents arrested Billini and Santiago-Irizarry after they delivered about $7,200 worth of cocaine to a predetermined location for a sale.

Billini had a loaded .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol concealed in his waistband at the time of his arrest, Ware reported.

Both suspects were booked at the Hall County Jail and denied bond Tuesday at their first appearance in Hall County Magistrate Court. Their next court appearance is set for March 1.

Also on Monday, Onza Octavious McGhee, 35, of Stone Mountain, was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and use of a communications device to facilitate a drug transaction.

Ware said McGhee was arrested in the 4700 block of Lanier Islands Parkway and was trafficking about $6,300 worth of crack cocaine.

Ware noted that the charge is the same

"It's still possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. The Puerto Rican gentlemen we arrested the same day had powder cocaine," he said.

McGhee was booked at the Hall County Jail.

On Tuesday, Waldy Duran, 22, of Lilburn was charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, use of a communications device to facilitate a drug transaction and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, Ware said.

MANS agents, assisted by the sheriff's office Uniform Patrol Division, arrested Duran without incident on the 900 block of Gainesville Highway in Hall County after he delivered about $7,800 worth of cocaine to a predetermined location for sale, Ware reported.

Duran was booked into the Hall County Jail.

Ware said the spike in cocaine arrests is not necessarily representative of a sweeping uptick in the drug's distribution.

"Usually meth is the main thing we get, but every now and then we get cocaine — it's not out of the ordinary," Ware said. "We typically get more methamphetamine than we do anything else when we're talking about the street drugs, but it's not a new trend or anything like that."

J.P. Banks is director of the Drug Free Coalition of Hall County, a group dedicated to education and prevention of drug abuse in Hall County.

He said that agencies such as MANS partner with the coalition for drug-prevention programs, and inform the coalition, keeping it in the loop on any notable drug trends.

"Our office does not have statistics related to cocaine use in Hall County," Banks said. "If it becomes a major problem, then it's something that the coalition would begin to track, and look at statistics, data and number of arrests and that sort of stuff."

Tuesday, MANS agents arrested two men on charges on methamphetamine trafficking.

Jonathon Orozco, 28, of Flowery Branch, was charged with trafficking methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, as well as misdemeanor charges of possession of marijuana and obstruction.

A second man, Emanuel Rodriguez-Colon, 24, of Buford, was charged with trafficking methamphetamine, Ware reported.

The two men were arrested in Oakwood, in the 3900 block of Mundy Mill Road.

Ware reported that agents arrested Rodriguez-Colon after he and Orozco delivered about $2,800 worth of methamphetamine.

Orozco was arrested following a brief foot chase, Ware said.

Both men were booked at the Hall County Jail.

Also Monday, an investigation by the MANS unit led to the arrest of Anthony Lamar Poole, 22, of Buford.

Poole was charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute and felony possession of marijuana.

He was arrested in the 900 block of Gainesville Highway in Hall County, Ware reported. Agents were assisted by the Hall County Sheriff's Office uniform patrol division, Ware added.

Ware reported that Poole delivered about $500 worth of marijuana to a predetermined location for a sale.

Poole was booked at the Hall County Jail. He had a conditional bond of $25,000 set at his first appearance. He is due to appear in court again on Feb. 28.