Ten members of a Northeast Georgia family have been arrested and more family members face arrest for allegedly running a major drug organization in Gainesville.
Law enforcement began rounding up the suspects Thursday, August 20, as part of “Operation Long Time Coming.” The drug-trafficking investigation took more than a year and was led by the Gainesville/Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (MANS Unit). Agents estimate the drug ring earned approximately $1.4 million annually by trafficking crack cocaine, synthetic marijuana, and prescription pills. Officials say the narcotics came out of Atlanta and were sold from a home in Gainesville.
As they worked the case, agents identified Gainesville residents Roger Eugene Cantrell, 52, Peyton Renia Hood, 39, and Antwane Sintell Thurmond, 39, as the primary ringleaders, according to information released by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. Cantrell and Thurmond were among those taken into custody on Thursday. Both are charged with multiple violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations (RICO) Act, use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, and multiple counts of criminal conspiracy. In addition, Thurmond is charged with violating his probation.
Hood faces similar charges. He was already in jail in Gwinnett County.
Agents also arrested Thurmond’s wife, Nikki Glenn, 46, an employee at Hall County Juvenile Court. Hall County jail records show she’s charged with use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, two counts of violating the RICO Act, two counts of criminal conspiracy, and violating her oath of office.
Others arrested include:
- Kavarus Lashaund Brown, 39, of Gainesville, charged with criminal conspiracy
- Quincy Tyrone Buffington, 43, of Gainesville, charged with use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, violation of the RICO Act, and criminal conspiracy
- Marquez Sanchez Cantrell, 33, of Gainesville, charged with use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, violation of the RICO Act, and two counts of criminal conspiracy
- Hyziher Consuela Glenn, 41, of Gainesville, charged with use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, two counts of violating the RICO Act, and two counts of criminal conspiracy
- Vinson Edward Rucker, 42, of Gainesville, charged with use of communications facilities in a drug transaction, violation of the RICO Act, and criminal conspiracy
- Vanessa Diane Thompson, 53, of Gainesville, charged with violation of the RICO Act, party to a crime, and criminal conspiracy
Investigators are withholding the names of the other suspects until they’re in custody. They say all of the suspects are related by either blood or marriage. Outside of those already named in the arrest warrants, “no further arrests are anticipated,” says Hall County Sheriff’s spokesperson Derreck Booth.
Anonymous tips led to the takedown
The investigation began in the summer of 2019 following several anonymous complaints about drug trafficking with the narcotics being sold through windows of a house on Black Drive in Gainesville. According to agents, drug dealers at the home averaged a minimum of 20 transactions an hour, from early in the morning until late at night, seven days a week.
It’s one of the largest cases the unit has ever undertaken and is it’s first as the lead in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) case.
“To those who let us know about the problem, I can finally say without fear of harming the investigation that ‘We heard you loud and clear,’” says Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch.
Couch held a press conference Thursday to announce the arrests.
“Our community should be proud of the amount of hard police work, diligence, and determination by the MANS Unit in combating this blight on our county. The people we targeted have been substantially profiting off of the misery of others for too long. It’s this sort of effort that pinpoints those preying on others’ addictions that makes a difference,” he says.
The MANS Unit was assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Department of Homeland Security; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Gainesville Police Department; Georgia Bureau of Investigation; Georgia State Patrol; Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office and the Uniform Patrol Division of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
The case remains under investigation by MANS Unit.
