GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Authorities are releasing new details about a major drug bust that show just how large the operation was.
It was Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. when the Gwinnett Metro Task Force simultaneously raided more than a dozen homes throughout Gwinnett County.
Originally, authorities executed 17 search warrants at homes in Gwinnett County, including at residences in Snellville, Lawrenceville, Loganville, Buford, Tucker and others. They later confirmed they searched 19 total locations, determining the homes were all connected to the same large-scale operation.
All together, more than 50 law enforcement officers from different agencies – including from Norcross, Snellville, Duluth, Buford, Lawrenceville, Lilburn and Suwanee – assisted in the coordinated raid of what officials described as a Vietnamese drug trafficking organization. Federal and state agencies were also involved.
Many of the homes housed active marijuana grow operations, police said. The marijuana filled entire rooms, ranging from young seedlings to plans that grew up to 5 feet tall. Others were being dried out, apparently ready to be sold.
Police so far have confirmed two addresses that have been raided: 1623 Bent River Drive in Lilburn and 289 Serenity Point in Lawrenceville.
At the end of the raid, officers arrested 16 people. However, they issued several more arrest warrants for others.
In addition to the arrests, authorities seized seven vehicles, 2,600 marijuana plants, 10 firearms and $340,000.
PHOTOS: Huge Gwinnett drug bust
Police said the raids were the result of a single tip that led authorities to months of investigating.
"Once they started it kind of got bigger and bigger and bigger and it led to that many search warrants being obtained and executed," said Lawrenceville Police Lt. Jake Parker.
Some neighbors of the house on Bent River Drive said they were shocked to hear of the raids, but relieved to see the marijuana being hauled away.
"Very happy to be seeing it cleaned up and shocked to see it is right here," one woman said. "There is probably a lot going on that we don't know about."
