Three people were arrested Thursday afternoon in what deputies called the largest one-time heroin seizure in Cherokee County’s history.
Agents with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics squad raided a home off Trickum Road in Woodstock, where they discovered a “heroin processing facility,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jay Baker said.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Agents were about to enter the Wauchula Way home when a suspect pulled into the cul-de-sac, spotted the police and took off in his car, Baker said. The man, identified as 26-year-old Jerome Allen of Marietta, was arrested on Trickum Road after jumping out of his car and running away, Baker said.
Inside the home, deputies found one pound of heroin mixed with fentanyl, 13 ounces of meth and firearms, Baker said. Because of the dangers associated with fentanyl, Cherokee’s hazardous materials team was brought in to collect the drugs.
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
“It appears based on what we found at the scene that they were taking heroin and taking fentanyl and taking other adulterants and mixing them to make more money off the heroin,” CMANS commander Phil Price told Channel 2 Action News.
Allen was charged with possession of a Schedule 1 narcotic after THC vape pens were discovered in his vehicle, Baker said.
Two other people who lived at the home were arrested in Sandy Springs on drug charges. Edward Ball, 36, and Katie Marissa Zepeta, 31, were charged with manufacturing heroin, trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking heroin, possession of Xanax, three counts of distribution of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school and three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Ball is also charged with selling heroin and methamphetamine, authorities said.
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cherokee County Sheriff's Office
Baker said the home has been secured, but no one else is allowed inside until the Environmental Protection Agency declares it safe.
Allen is being held at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center on a $4,875 bond while Ball and Zepeta remain at the Fulton County Jail without bond, records show.
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