Suspects Arrested in Drug Raid Indicted on Meth, Weapons Charges

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Five people have been indicted stemming from an August raid that led to the arrest of four people in Hickory Flat.

A Cherokee County grand jury has indicted James Madison Flood III, Manual Jose Arce, Daniel Badger Franklin, Colleen Lucille Pelz and Robert Chadwick Scott on several counts stemming from the raid conducted by agents with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, or CMANS.

Acre was indicted on one count each of trafficking methamphetamine and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony while Flood was indicted on one count of trafficking methamphetamine and two counts of violation of the Georgia Controlled Substance Act. Both Franklin and Pelz were indicted on one count each of violating the Georgia Controlled Substance Act while Scott was indicted on two counts of violating the act.

Around 4 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15, CMANS agents, along with Cherokee Sheriff’s Office deputies and members of Cherokee Multi-Agency SWAT Team, all executed a search warrant of a home at 6652 Vaughn Road in Hickory Flat.

CMANS agents over a two month period had been conducting an investigation into Flood’s activities, sheriff’s office spokesperson Lt. Jay Baker told Patch in August.

On Aug. 14, CMANS Commander Phil Price was contacted by agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who had been supporting the Taliaferro County Sheriff’s Office in a multi-agency investigation which pointed to Flood as a source of methamphetamine in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, Baker stated.

Taliaferro deputies supplied the information to CMANS agents, and those agents established surveillance at the Vaughn Road home and simultaneously prepared a search warrant for the home.

With the help of the Taliaferro deputies, the search warrant was executed and “agents noted heavy security around the house, including several security cameras and a make-shift electrified fence,“ according to Baker.

“When officers made entry into the home, all the defendants were awake and moving around the residence, and at least one suspect attempted to flee,“ he added.

Agents recovered $7,874 in cash, four firearms and 14 ounces of meth valued at $21,000. Agents also recovered a small amount of marijuana and a small amount of an unknown substance that will be identified by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Lab.

All defendants were transported to the Cherokee Adult Detention Center in Canton. The Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad is a joint task force working in Cherokee County to investigate drug related violations.

Participating agencies include the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office, Canton Police Department, Woodstock Police Department, Holly Springs Police Department, Ball Ground Police Department, Cherokee County Marshal’s Office, the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia State Patrol.

Citizens may call in tips anonymously to (770) 345-7920 or may speak to an agent by calling (678) 493-7625.