Cocaine distribution operation taken down

HALEYVILLE - The charge of using a firearm to further interest of a criminal enterprise was among the many criminal counts facing two Haleyville residents in relation  to an alleged cocaine distribution operation.
Hunter Devon Garrett, 29, and Macie Brooke Kimbrough, 22, both of 2204 30th Street, Haleyville, have each been charged with trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking fentanyl, two counts of receiving stolen property second degree, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a controlled substance,  possession of drug paraphernalia, use of a firearm to further the interest of a criminal enterprise and  certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm, according to Winston County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Josh Edwards.
The Winston County Sheriff’s Office, Haleyville and Bear Creek police departments have been investigating Garrett’s alleged drug distribution actions for over two years.
“We knew he had been drug dealing for a while,” Edwards said.
A break in the case came Thursday night, March 27, when enough evidence was obtained from a traffic stop conducted by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office of an alleged buyer, leading to the execution of a search warrant at Garrett’s residence on 30th Street, Edwards stated.
The search warrant, signed by Circuit Judge Lee Carter, was executed at the 30th Street residence in the early morning hours of Friday, March 28, by the Winston County Sheriff’s Office and Haleyville and Bear Creek police departments, investigators said.
“Entry was made. (Garrett) immediately went to the ground,” Edwards said, explaining that Garrett and Kimbrough were ordered to the ground at gunpoint.
Authorities conducted the search, finding drugs, firearms and drug paraphernalia in one room that was reportedly used as an office for the drug distribution operation, authorities indicated.
Along with 12 loaded semi-automatic rifles,  law enforcement found 14 grams of cocaine in a bag, with a separate bag containing about two grams of cocaine ready for sale, according to Edwards.
Also found were 199 fentanyl pills along with 15 grams of pure fentanyl, he added.
“There was enough fentanyl in that residence to kill every single resident in Winston County,” Edwards emphasized. “This is the most fentanyl I have seen in Winston County at one time.
“Fentanyl, we know, is one of the most dangerous drugs this country has ever seen or the world has seen, really,” Edwards emphasized.  “More people die from fentanyl overdoses than die in car wrecks and gun violence combined.
“(If you have) between one and three grams of fentanyl, you can serve a mandatory (sentence of) three years,” Edwards noted. “Or, it could be life in prison.
“A person who is convicted of trafficking between two grams and four grams of fentanyl, minimum 10 years in prison,” Edwards added. “Anyone who is convicted and has eight or more grams of fentanyl faces life in prison.”
Edwards said that Garrett had 33 grams of fentanyl in his possession.
Approximately 29 grams of meth in one bag, a separate bag containing one gram of meth ready for sale,  two 16-ounce bottles of liquid hydrocodone and a small amount of marijuana were also found in the office area, Edwards said.
Scales, bags and pipes were among the drug paraphernalia found, according to investigators.

When someone is accused of a crime, it is merely an accusation until or unless the person is proven guilty in a court of law.