The task force responsible for supplying information used in the May drug raid that left a toddler disfigured is being disbanded.

The news comes just as a Habersham County grand jury is hearing evidence about the Mountain Judicial Circuit Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team’s role in the planning of the raid that left 19-month-old Bounkham “Bou Bou” Phonesavanh seriously injured after a stun grenade exploded in his playpen.

“It’s interesting that would happen now,” said Mawuli Davis, the attorney representing the Phonesavanh family.

Drug investigations and prosecutions will now fall under the domain of the Appalachian Drug Task Force, a multi-county drug enforcement agency that covers White, Banks, Lumpkin and Towns counties. The GBI is responsible for supervising and training the newly expanded task force.

Controversy has followed the disbanded Mountain NCIS team since their role in the 2009 fatal shooting of a pastor who inadvertently stepped into the middle of an undercover drug operation involving a suspected drug dealer and admitted prostitute. A grand jury cleared the task force of any wrongdoing but a civil jury awarded the pastor’s widow more than $2 million.

Return to myajc.com for updates.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Ernie Suggs, a reporter at the AJC since 1997, reviews a selection of articles he has contributed to during his time with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as of Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Featured

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins' Senate campaign used Sen. Jon Ossoff's Senate portrait (center) to create an AI-generated video of Ossoff talking about his vote not to end the government shutdown.  The video was reposted to Collins' campaign account on X (left). (Screenshot)

Credit: Screenshot