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InsiderAdvantage is the only Georgia news outlet providing regular reports in recent years on Georgia’s criminal gang crisis. The latest news is good: The single largest gang investigation in Georgia – “Operation Kibosh” led by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office with help from other agencies— led to a 136-count indictment against 77 gang members, with 56 in custody and 21 at large.
According to The Augusta Chronicle and sheriff’s office news releases, the sheriff’s office’s Gang Intelligence Unit identified members involved in the gang and laboriously compiled information on 163 members and associates in the Augusta-Richmond County area.
“This investigation was initiated based on the gang’s affiliation with high levels of drug distribution and violent crimes,” Sheriff Richard Roundtree said last Friday. “We know that attacking criminal organizations at the core is the most effective way to remove lawless street gang members from our society and have the greatest impact on gang prosecution.”
The Richmond County probe began in January 2018 and then the sheriff’s office began to work with then-District Attorney Natalie Paine and other county, state and federal agencies to track down and stamp out the Ghostface Gangsters operating in Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. According to the sheriff’s office, the Ghostface Gangsters have been attempting to expand into neighboring states and are considered the fastest growing white gang in the country with around 5,000 members.
“Over the past five years, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has prosecuted the largest number of gang-related cases in Georgia. While this is not a distinction that we relish, we want the citizens of Richmond County to know that we will never relent as we continue to strive to make Augusta one of the safest cities in the state of Georgia,” Roundtree said.
InsiderAdvantage sources also say a big round of congratulations especially go to two great law enforcement officers who worked tirelessly for three years to build the biggest gang case in the history of Georgia: Sgt. Paul Godden and Detective Adam Green of the
Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division— Gang Intelligence Unit.
Gov. Brian Kemp spoke at the news conference about the importance of such investigations. In 2019, Kemp established a new anti-gang task force within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate and prosecute street gangs.
“Gangs are the driving force behind violent crime across our state. That’s why since the beginning, the first family, as your first family, we work hard every day to crack down on street gangs and put an end to one of their main methods of income, and that’s human sex trafficking,” Kemp said. “Given what we are seeing in Atlanta and other places, I don’t think people need convincing anymore that we are facing a gang-violent crime crisis in our state but also across the country.”
