“Operation Krack the Ice” 34 indicted on RICO, gang, and drug charges in Spalding County

GRIFFIN, Ga. (WRBL) —On Friday, the GBI announced the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office indicted 34 individuals involved in “Operation Krack the Ice.”

The operation was a multi-agency investigation involving gangs, drugs, and organized crime, wreaking havoc in communities across the state, including but not limited to Troup, Spalding, Butts, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Newton, and Tattnall Counties.

The 34 individuals 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.
Nine defendant counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine
One defendant count of Terroristic Threats
One defendant counts Possession of a Firearm During Commission of a Felony
One defendant count of Possession of a Knife during Commission of a Felony

According to the GBI, in 2020, the GBI’s Gang Task Force, along with the Georgia Department of Corrections and Homeland Security Investigations, the Atlanta Gangs Division determined Ghostface Gangster Chad Ashley Allen, who is serving a life sentence for murder at a Georgia State Prison in Tattnall County, was coordinating with Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations, Ghostface Gangster members Gangster Disciples, Sureños, and Bloods criminal street gangs to operate a drug trafficking enterprise while incarcerated.

The GBI’s investigation revealed that between April 2014 and September 2022, the individuals who were indicted participated in a “pattern of racketeering activity.” The organization spanned from Mexico and throughout Georgia, distributing methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and alprazolam.

The GBI says the criminal enterprise committed multiple crimes, including drug trafficking, assaults, and other firearm offenses. The conspiracy involved a pattern of “criminal coordination,” where Allen sourced drugs from Mexico and then recruited a system of street distributors to sell enormous amounts of methamphetamine and other drugs.

The GBI says that those involved in the drug-trafficking operation utilized contraband cell phones smuggled into the prison where Allen is housed. The cell phones were used to coordinate with co-conspirators in exchange for considerable monetary earnings laundered through mobile banking apps.

An analysis of records recovered from the cellphones, social media platforms, and infiltration of the criminal operation by undercover law enforcement, along with additional investigation, revealed “a conspiracy to traffic vast amounts of methamphetamine,” and the GBI says authorities also recovered six firearms, including one “ghost gun.”

The GBI says the following agencies contributed “substantial assistance” to this investigation: