FBI director Kash Patel praised his agents as well as those from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for taking down a major drug operation in Atlanta, resulting in the removal of 33 firearms and over 252 kilograms of drugs valued at over $9 million, from the streets.

The FBI, alongside the DEA and state and local authorities executed three search warrants last Thursday, resulting in the arrest of 47-year-old Bartholomew Keeton Harralson.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Harralson with three drug trafficking and weapon possession crimes related to the drug trafficking operation.

U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said Harralson is charged with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted, he faces at least 40 years in prison and the possibility of life behind bars.

FBI Atlanta and the DEA shut down a major drug operation resulting in over $9 million worth of drugs and 33 firearms being taken off the streets. (Fox)

The drugs, the DOJ alleged, were in the form of powder and hundreds of thousands of pressed pills.

Additionally, law enforcement searched a machine shop behind Harralson’s Douglasville residence and allegedly found about 1,375 pounds of binding agent used to press pills, 564 punch dies to mark the pills, 19 firearms, four drum-style magazines and a significant amount of ammunition.

Brown told reporters that two ballistic style vests were allegedly found in one of the residences

“Right now, we have an American dying every seven minutes from drug overdoses, and homicides occur twice each hour,” Brown said. “Our new FBI director, Kash Patel, has given our workforce a simple mandate, crush violent crime, and this is a big step toward that end in metro Atlanta. This major operation is shut down, and it’s just one example of the work the FBI and DEA agents continue to do each and every day.”

DEA Atlanta Acting Special Agent in Charge Jae E. Chung told reporters the operation resulted in the largest fentanyl seizure to date in the state of Georgia.

The 97 kilograms of fentanyl that was seized has the potential to kill about 48 million Americans, Chung said

“The DEA and our partners are working hard day in and day out to protect their communities from the dangers and violence associated with drug trafficking,” he said. “DEA’s priorities are to save American lives and to keep our communities safe. We will continue to leverage every partnership, every resource available to ensure the drug dealers who distribute poison, like fentanyl and other illicit drugs through our communities are brought to justice.”

The FBI and DEA conducted the take-down as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that streamlines efforts and resources within the Department of Homeland Security to not just crack down on illegal immigration but also achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and protect our communities from the “perpetrators of violent crimes.”

Chung told reporters the large quantities of drugs discovered in the bust showed they were being provided by cartels in Mexico.