“Operation Krack the Ice” – 34 Indicted on Gang, RICO, and Drug Charges in Gang Task Force Case in Spalding County
This operation is a multi-agency investigation in communities across Georgia, including but not limited to Spalding, Butts, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton, Troup, and Tattnall Counties.
The Spalding County District Attorney’s Office has indicted 34 men and women in “Operation Krack the Ice.” This operation is a multi-agency investigation involving gangs, drugs, and organized crime, plaguing communities across the State of Georgia, including but not limited to Spalding, Butts, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton, Troup, and Tattnall Counties.
The 34 people are charged with the following:
68 Defendant Counts of Violations of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act
24 Defendant Counts of Violations of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act
9 Defendant Counts of Trafficking-Methamphetamine
1 Defendant Count of Terroristic Threats
1 Defendant Count of Possession of Firearm During Commission of a Felony
1 Defendant Count of Possession of a Knife During Commission of a Felony
In late 2020, the GBI Gang Task Force, along with the Georgia Department of Corrections and Homeland Security Investigations-Atlanta Gangs Division, determined Ghostface Gangster Chad Ashley Allen, serving a life sentence for murder at Georgia State Prison in Tattnall County, was, in coordination with Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs), members of the Ghostface Gangsters, Gangster Disciples, Sureños, and Bloods criminal street gangs, operating a drug trafficking enterprise from the prison.
The investigation showed that between April 2014 and September 2022, the men and women who have been indicted participated in a pattern of racketeering activity. The organization spans from Mexico and throughout Georgia, distributing methamphetamine, alprazolam, fentanyl, and heroin, in coordination with criminal street gang members and associates in and outside of prison. This is organized crime operating at the highest level.
This criminal enterprise committed numerous crimes, including drug trafficking, assaults, and firearms offenses. The conspiracy involves a pattern of criminal coordination where Allen sourced illegal drugs from Mexico from the Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations. Allen then recruits a system of street level distributors (criminal street gang members and associates) to fulfill requests for enormous amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs. They did this by using contraband cell phones that were smuggled into the prison. These contraband cell phones were used to coordinate with co-conspirators, both incarcerated and civilian, in exchange for considerable amounts of illicit earnings laundered through mobile banking apps. The analysis of records recovered from these contraband cell phones, social media platforms, and infiltration of the criminal enterprise by undercover law enforcement officers was vital to the success of this investigation. The investigation revealed a conspiracy to traffic vast amounts of methamphetamine and resulted in the recovery of six firearms, including one “ghost gun.”
Agencies that provided substantial assistance in this investigation include the Georgia Department of Corrections, Homeland Security Investigations-Atlanta Gangs Division, Spalding County District Attorney’s Office, GBI West Metro Regional Drug Enforcement Office, Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, Griffin Police Department, Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office, Butts County Sheriff’s Office, and Troup County Sheriff’s Office.
