# Two Busted In $4 Million Georgia Cocaine Case



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

PAULA STUHR
GAINESVILLE GA USA -- Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic, right, talks to the media Monday, Jan. 23, 2006, about 88 pounds of cocaine, displayed in the foreground in Gainesville, Ga., that the Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad seized Sunday. Cronic is flanked by 1st Lt. Kevin Head, left, and Capt. Mark McGinnis. Cronic said that drug agents found the cocaine, worth an estimated $4 million, during a raid at a construction business that had been set up as a front for a drug operation. Oscar Diaz, 25, and Rodrigo Ramiraz-Contreras, 27, have both been charged with trafficking cocaine, Cronic said. (AP Photo/The Times, Paula Stuhr)

*Story by wsbtv.com*

Two men have been arrested in a drug bust at an industrial park that turned up 88 pounds of cocaine.

Hall County Sheriff Steve Cronic said Monday that drug agents found the cocaine -- worth an estimated $4 million -- during a raid Sunday at a construction business that had been set up as a front for a drug operation.

Oscar Diaz, 25, and Rodrigo Ramiraz-Contreras, 27, have both been charged with trafficking cocaine. And Ramiraz-Contreras, who Cronic said is in the country illegally, also faces charges of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

The FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration took part in the undercover operation. Cronic said the suspects also may face federal charges.

The men were being held without bond in the Hall County Detention Center.

The warehouse was a distribution point for a regional drug operation, Cronic said.

"They were using this warehouse operation to look like a legitimate company," he said. "But they were shipping in drugs to this area and shipping them out to other areas."

Cronic said the cocaine appears to have come from Mexico, but the tractor-trailer shipments were made from somewhere in the western part of the country to Gainesville.

The sheriff said cocaine has been less prominent recently with the rising popularity of methamphetamine.

"We have not seen as much cocaine," Cronic said. "This is unusual that we would see this level and this amount of cocaine."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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