Residents in one Cherokee County subdivision were shocked to learn that authorities discovered a "heroin processing facility" at a home in Cherokee County.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said agents with the Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad (CMANS) confiscated about one pound of the drug, which happens to be the largest amount of heroin seized at one time in the county's history.
Evidence indicated the primary purpose of the home was to process narcotics, authorities said.
The drug bust happened at a home off of Trickrum Road in Woodstock Thursday afternoon. Authorities said they were preparing to execute a search warrant on Wauchula Way when a suspect, 26-year-old Jerome Allen, spotted law enforcement officers and took off.
He was captured on Trickum Road a short time later.
Authorities said they found more than heroin during their bust. Deputies said there was also fentanyl inside of house.
Since the drug is extremely dangerous, Cherokee officials said the Cherokee Fire and Emergency Services Hazardous Material Team was called to the scene. Authorities put on protective gear to collect evidence.
They found the pound of heroin mixed with fentanyl, 13 ounces of meth, and firearms.
Authorities charged Allen with possession of a scheduled 1 narcotic for THC vape pens.
Two others who lived at the home, 36-year-old Edward Ball and 31-year-old Katie Marissa Zepeta, were arrested in Sandy Springs on drug-related and weapons charges.
Both face charges of manufacturing heroin, trafficking meth, 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 has additional charges for the sale of heroin and two counts of sale of methamphetamine.
Cherokee deputies said no one will be allowed to enter the home until the Environmental Protection Agency declares it safe.
