WALB is working to produce a video for this story. In the meantime, we encourage you to watch our livestream.

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) — The methamphetamine and fentanyl showing up on South Georgia streets is not coming from local operations. Federal investigators say it’s being supplied by some of the world’s most powerful criminal organizations with a supply chain that stretches from Mexico, and sometimes China, straight into Albany and Valdosta neighborhoods following a drug trafficking investigation.

That’s according to U.S. Attorney Will Keyes, whose office prosecutes major drug trafficking cases across the Middle District of Georgia, including Southwest Georgia.

“We’re dealing with the drugs that come to our communities in the Middle District of Georgia, including Albany and Valdosta, [and they] are supplied from organized criminal units like Sinaloa Cartel or CJNG Cartel,” Keyes said.

A direct line from cartels, local streets, to addicted users

Keyes says some of the most harmful drugs and chemicals are also being pushed out by local gangs.

“The vast majority of the methamphetamine and some of the most harmful drugs and chemicals that hit our streets are coming from these cartels and often getting pushed out by other organized criminal elements like gangs out onto the street and ultimately getting into the hands of people who are users and people who are addicted,” Keyes said. “Sometimes we’re sourcing the drugs even back to China, and they’re being sent directly from China to our communities.”

He said his office’s goal — working alongside the DEA and FBI — is to prosecute the people making the most money off the pipeline, cartel leaders.

Fentanyl isn’t just heroin anymore

Keyes said one of the most dangerous shifts he’s seen: fentanyl is no longer confined to hard drugs like heroin, meth and cocaine. It is increasingly showing up in counterfeit pills made to look like prescription medication.

“...Now we’ve seen fentanyl in fake Xanax or in fake Adderall,” Keyes said. “It’s really in everything, and it’s touching all corners of society, and we take it so seriously for that reason.”

He also pointed to the purity of drugs reaching South Georgia, making one pill extremely lethal.

“The potency of certain drugs, even like methamphetamine, is 97, 98, 99, 100% pure,” Keyes said. “So these are very powerful drugs. We just want people to be careful.”

Overdose deaths are on a steady decline

Keyes pointed to national data showing overdose deaths are declining. CDC data shows U.S. overdose deaths have now fallen for a third consecutive year.

Keyes called the trend “obviously a good thing,” but said his office also measures success case by case.

“When we can take down an organization that’s causing such destruction and pushing this poison out, that’s what success looks like for a prosecutor’s office,” Keyes said.

Local police officer’s role in taking down cartels

Keyes said many of the biggest cartel-linked prosecutions in South Georgia started small: by a simple traffic stop on I-75, or a local drug investigator in Albany working a single case.

“Some of the biggest prosecutions that our office has handled in Southwest Georgia, in Albany, they start because local law enforcement officers are paying attention. They know the things to look for,” Keyes said.

He described the process as working up a chain.

“Sometimes you have to start with a gram or several gram dealer to work up to an ounce dealer, to work up to a half kilogram dealer, to work up to a five to 10 kilogram dealer, and then you’re in the 50 to 100 kilograms,” Keyes said. “It’s that frontline public safety work that our local law enforcement is doing in these communities that allow us to try to work up to an organization.”

He credits officers on helping them investigate federal crimes from local streets.

“I’m incredibly grateful for what these law enforcement officers do on a daily basis. It’s dangerous work, but it’s truly saving lives,” Keyes said.

What this means for South Georgia families

Keyes tied the crisis to National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day, which is Aug. 21, warning families that drugs are not what they used to be.

“The other side of the coin is [we’re] interested in prosecuting [armed distributors] and making an example out of what they’re doing so that people stop doing this in Southwest Georgia,” he added.

He also pointed to crimes like armed robbery that he said are often fueled by addiction and the drug trade.

“The harm it causes, not just the drugs and the violent crime, but second-order effects,” Keyes said. “That’s often fueled in some form or fashion by what these drugs, the effect that they have on people.”

Drug overdoses at Phoebe Putney

Dr. James Black, the Medical Director for Emergency Services at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, said his ER sees the consequences of the drug overdose firsthand.

“Most of the times there’s either known or unknown contact with fentanyl, and people come in most likely in respiratory distress or unresponsive,” he said. “Sometimes the use is not even known, because people will maybe use other drugs or other substances [that have] been laced with fentanyl.”

While free Narcan (naloxone) kits are now available to South Georgia residents through a regional health program, Dr. Black cautioned that the medication has limits people need to understand.

“...We also see cases where the friends are incapacitated, or they give an insufficient dose or [aren’t] using it correctly,” he added. “So a lot of over-reliance on safety measures that [aren’t] really safe practices... lots of education, lots of discussion with family members about it.”

Recent cartel and trafficking-linked cases in South Georgia

Lowndes County:

• In March 2026, a multi-agency drug trafficking investigation in Lowndes County led to dozens of firearms, multiple drugs and tens of thousands of dollars seized, according to the sheriff’s office. The initial investigation recovered about two kilograms of fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine along with roughly $50,000 in cash. A follow-up operation executed 12 additional search warrants over two days in March, seizing 11 pounds of methamphetamine and 46 firearms. Multiple suspects were arrested on trafficking and gun charges, with more arrests and federal charges considered likely.

Dougherty County:

• In 2025, 10 Dougherty County residents were sentenced or awaited sentencing after a DOJ investigation dismantled an armed drug trafficking organization operating out of local hotels in Albany. Agents seized 28 firearms, including two machine guns, 2.3 kilograms of methamphetamine, nine grams of fentanyl and 30 grams of cocaine over the course of the investigation.

Get Help

If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, resources are available:

• SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)
• Georgia Crisis & Access Line: 1-800-715-4225
• Free Narcan (South Health District, 10 South Georgia counties): Available by mail to residents 18+

If you have information about drug trafficking in your community, contact the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-597-TIPS (8477).

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. For more south Georgia news, download the WALB News app and add WALB as a preferred source on Google.

Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.