By Brian Feagans, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett County, Ga. police operating on an anonymous tip made one of the largest methamphetamine (speed) busts in county history Friday after raiding an unfurnished home near Tucker.
The two-story house at 1271 Dogwood Lane had no electricity, no running water and no signs of residents, said Gwinnett police Lt. D.E. Spradley. About the only thing that police and agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration found inside was 76 pounds of meth, he said.
The crystal meth, most of which was packaged in 21 bricks weighing 2.5 pounds each, has an estimated street value of $3.47 million. It was found under the kitchen sink and in an upstairs bedroom closet. There were no signs that the house was used to make the drugs, Spradley said Monday, in announcing the seizure at police headquarters in Lawrenceville.
“It looks like they were basically using it as a stash house,” he said. “There were no dishes, no furniture, no indication anyone was living there.”
Police and the DEA have made no arrests but are pursuing several leads, Spradley said.
They plan to question the house’s owner, a woman who may have rented it out, Spradley said.
During surveillance Friday, DEA agents also saw two men leave the house, which sits in a neighborhood off South Norcross-Tucker Road. The agents called in Gwinnett police, obtained a search warrant and entered the home without any resistance at 10 p.m.
There was no one inside, only the meth, a few cellophane boxes and some unopened mail, Spradley said.
The large quantity of meth indicates an organized network of people was involved, he said.
In addition to the blocks of meth, the police found several smaller packages wrapped in duct tape or colored cellophane. Fabric-softening sheets also enveloped some of the speed, most likely to mask the chemical odor, Spradley said.
Gwinnett police reviewed the past four or five years of drug busts in the county and could find no larger seizure of meth, Spradley said. Seizures of the narcotic are on the rise in the county, Spradley said.
“It’s quickly catching up to the cocaine,” he said.