Middle GA gang task force seized $1.5M in drugs in past year, officials say. More staff coming

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation brought its Middle Georgia Gang Task Force to Macon last year, and officials announced Wednesday that the agency indicted dozens of people while seizing high-value drugs.

Now the group is going to add prosecutors to the team.

In addition to Macon, the unit also plans to expand its footprint with new prosecutors and investigators in Columbus and Southeast Georgia.

Assistant Attorney General Ashton Jordan will be Macon’s prosecutor, and Fulton County’s senior criminal investigator Nathan Shoate will be joining her as Macon’s criminal investigator.

State Sen. John F. Kennedy estimated there are 1,500 gangs in Georgia, and they make up 60% of violent crime. Middle Georgia is one of the main sources of funding for gangs across the state, GBI Director Chris Hosey said at a news conference Wednesday.

Since the GBI task force settled in Macon, Hosey says the investigators have made tremendous progress. The force initiated over 200 gang-related cases, took 72 weapons off the street, arrested 158 people and confiscated $1.5 million worth of drugs, said Hosey.

“The success of investigations here in Macon in Middle Georgia and across the state have been due to tremendous partnerships,” said Hosey.

Partners include local law enforcement, the legislature, school boards and nonprofits. Now, those partnerships are expanding. The 2025 state budget included $822,411 for the gang unit to hire more prosecutors and investigators. As a result, Macon will have a new prosecutor and investigator as part of the statewide gang prosecution unit.

Since July 2020, the statewide prosecution unit has secured more than 40 convictions, indicted more than 140 people, and maintained a 100% conviction rate, officials said in a Wednesday news conference.

Attorney General Chris Carr said he is proud to expand the group’s footprint to Middle Georgia, and that there is a lot of work to be done to help the families that are afraid to sit on their porch steps at night and the families that are afraid to let their kids walk to the bus stop for fear of them getting recruited by a criminal gang.

“All Georgians, no matter where they live, deserve to feel safe and deserve to be safe. It’s a fundamental human need,” said Carr.