Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office seized drugs worth $21 million in 2023, report says

One of the most significant increases in crime statistics cited by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office for last year was the skyrocketing value of seized drugs.

The office saw a nearly 10 times increase in the value of drugs seized, according to the sheriff’s office 2023 annual report, with a total value of $21.1 million worth.

That amount dwarfed the value of drugs seized in 2022 when it confiscated about $2.3 million in illegal drugs, and also the nearly $900,000 in drugs it took in during all of 2021.

Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman said the increased value of drugs seized can partly be attributed to joint collaboration cases and partnerships with federal authorities.

“The message that we want to send to the gang members, the message that we want to send to the drug dealers, the fugitives, those who want to traffic our children and our teens under 18, not on our watch,” said Countryman.

In one instance involving multiple search warrants the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office seized over 119 pounds of marijuana, 10.4 ounces of cocaine, 6.6 ounces of methamphetamine, 7 handguns, 1 Mini Draco rifle and nearly $35,000 in U.S. currency. This haul estimated to be worth $588,000 led to the arrest of four individuals.

In another instance they seized over $1 million in methamphetamine after arresting two individuals who had outstanding warrants including two counts of felony murder each.

“We wanted to stop the hemorrhaging,” said Countryman. “So, a lot of stuff that you see now is a lot of surgery that we’re doing to stop the bleeding.”

The area saw 30 overdose deaths in 2023, according to Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan. He said 26 of those overdoses have been confirmed to be related to fentanyl with three overdose deaths still pending toxicology reports.

In total, the sheriff’s office seized approximately 1,400 pounds more in drugs in 2023 than in 2022. In 2023, the sheriff’s office seized just more than 1,617 pounds in narcotics, with marijuana comprising just over 1,229 pounds of that total. A stark contrast to the 135 pounds of marijuana seized in 2022.

Heroine and fentanyl made up just over three pounds of the total drugs seized during 2023, down a pound from 2022. The sheriff’s office also saw a total of just over 206 pounds of methamphetamine and just over 124 pounds of crack/cocaine seized as well last year.

The DEA told the Ledger-Enquirer last year that Atlanta, between an hour and a half to two hours away from Columbus, was a hub for illicit drugs up and down the east coast.

Gun confiscations rose

Another area the sheriff’s office saw increases in is the number of firearms seized. They seized 410 firearms in 2023, 97 more than the firearms confiscated in 2022.

Countryman said his office is aggressive when it comes to seizing firearms. As a consequence, he said patrol units have been shot at during their operations.

“We want to make sure that anytime we can take the guns out of the hands, especially of convicted felons, gang members, that we win,” Countryman said.

Another increase was the number of felony arrests made by the sheriff’s office with 2,047 felony arrests in 2023, more than double the number from 2022.

Countryman partially attributes this rise to having more investigators than years past. Countryman said when he took office the sheriff’s office had eight investigators and they now have around 35 investigators.

Countryman also attributed the exchange of information with the Columbus Police Department to helping investigators make more felony arrests.

“The unique thing about us is that, Columbus Police Department, they provide us with a lot of information on individuals that have warrants with them,” said Countryman.

Countryman said another danger to the Columbus area is individuals who are coming into Muscogee County with warrants from other counties that may be having an increase in crime.

“Those individuals we want to get,” said Countryman. “We don’t want them to come here and this be their playground.”

“When we arrest them here we want them to get on the phone in jail and call back and say ‘hey, don’t come to Muscogee County it’s hot,’” Countryman said.