At a press conference on the afternoon of Nov. 19, representatives of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Georgia U.S. Attorneys Office shared the details of Operation Tourniquet.
Operation Tourniquet began in May and has focused on the investigation into Athens-Clarke County’s “most prolific criminal street gang members,” identified as the 1831 Piru street gang, according to ACCPD Chief Cleveland Spruill. FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Andy Smith could not share further information regarding the gang’s activities in Athens-Clarke County at this time.
“In recent months, the Athens-Clarke County community and our surrounding area has experienced an increase in aggravated assaults involving firearms,” Spruill said. “These were often committed by members of criminal street gangs. While the increase of gun violence and gun-related offenses is nationwide, here in this region, we’re choosing to address this issue head-on.”
Over the course of the operation, 37 individuals have been arrested and charged, including 13 individuals who were federally charged Thursday.
60 firearms, which include 42 handguns, 14 assault rifles and 4 shotguns, more than 1 kilogram of Fentanyl, 11 ounces of heroin, 13 kilos of powder cocaine, 1 kilogram of crack cocaine, 12.5 pounds of crystal meth, 25 pounds of marijuana, a land mine, more than $1 million in cash, nearly 200 miscellaneous THC products and 198 doses of controlled pharmaceuticals have been seized in the operation so far.
“Operation Tourniquet shows our community that we will not tolerate acts of violence illegal possession of firearms, narcotics violations and other criminal street gang activity in our communities,” Spruill says. “Operation Tourniquet is a testament to what can be achieved when federal, state and local law enforcement agencies work collaboratively with the unified goal of removing violent criminal street gangs from our community.”
The operation is not over— the ACCPD expects to see more indictments and arrests in the future.
“Violent crime has been increasing across middle Georgia, [and] across the state of Georgia,” says Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Peter Leary. “This is something we’ve been working to address, and we’re very grateful to have had the support of Chief Spruill, who’s working very proactively to address this in conjunction with federal partners, state partners [and] local partners.”
