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THE OCMULGEE DRUG TASK FORCE ALONG WITH THE MILLEDGEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND THE BALDWIN COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE ARE TAKING BACK UNWANTED PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

October 26, 2013 - Milledgeville, Georgia – On October 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, the Milledgeville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will give the public its seventh opportunity in three years to prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused, and unwanted prescription drugs.  Bring your medications for disposal the Milledgeville Police Department at 125 West McIntosh Street or at the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office located at 119 Old Monticello Road, Milledgeville, Georgia.  The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Last April, Americans turned in 371 tons (over 742,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at over 5,800 sites operated by DEA and its thousands of state and local law enforcement partners.  In its six previous Take Back events, DEA and its partners took in over 2.8 million pounds – more than 1,400 tons – of pills.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue.  Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse, and abuse.  Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U. S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.  Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines – flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash – both pose potential safety and health hazards.

Regional Drug Enforcement Offices

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, having statewide original jurisdiction in drug enforcement investigations, is committed to providing the highest quality drug enforcement services for the citizens of Georgia through the contributions of highly skilled employees, state of the art equipment and a well defined strategy. Our continued focus is to combine GBI resources with existing federal, state and local resources in a cooperative effort to identify and investigate individuals or drug trafficking organizations which are importing, manufacturing and distributing illegal drugs in Georgia.

Currently, the GBI has drug enforcement offices in Canton, Milledgeville, Savannah, Carrollton, Thomson and Sylvester. The Thomson and Sylvester offices are designated as dual purpose offices; meaning that they respond to general requests for assistance from local law enforcement, as well having responsibility for the GBI’s drug enforcement effort within a designated area of Georgia’s 159 counties.

The GBI, in partnership with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and local law enforcement, currently supports 11 statewide Multi-jurisdictional Drug Task Forces (MJDTF). Under this concept the GBI assigns a supervisor (at the rank of Assistant Special Agent in Charge) to serve as the Task Force Commander. That supervisor provides supervisory and operational oversight.

In many geographical areas of Georgia, these MJDTFs provide the only substantial drug investigative response in that area.

The GBI also has agents assigned fulltime to the following task force:

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force

The OCDETF Strike Force is designed to investigate and prosecute the highest-level members of international drug cartels that have operations in metro Atlanta and throughout the United States. To this end, the Strike Force focuses on national investigations that are coordinated with OCDETF Strike Forces located in other cities and investigators located throughout the United States and the world.