Feds seize 26 bricks of fentanyl in Austell investigation

article Drugs seized by federal agents (Courtesy of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia) The Brief Federal agents seized nearly 60 pounds of fentanyl from a backyard shed in Austell, Georgia, leading to charges against a Mableton man. Investigators also uncovered more than $74,000 in cash hidden inside a false wall vent at a separate home in Mableton. Michael Antonio Cruz, 32, was arraigned Thursday in an Atlanta federal court and remains detained in U.S. Marshals Service custody. AUSTELL, Ga. - A 32-year-old Mableton man appeared in an Atlanta federal court Thursday to face drug trafficking charges after federal agents uncovered nearly 60 pounds of fentanyl inside an Austell backyard shed. What we know: Federal agents executed search warrants on Sept. 30 across three homes allegedly owned by Michael Antonio Cruz as part of a narcotics investigation, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia. Inside a backyard shed in Austell, Georgia, investigators found 26 individually wrapped bricks of fentanyl stamped on each side, totaling nearly 60 pounds. Agents also searched a Mableton, Georgia, home and discovered multiple scales, buckets of a cutting agent commonly used with methamphetamine and cocaine, plastic bins with methamphetamine residue, vacuum sealing machines and vacuum sealing packages, prosecutors said. Behind a false vent opening into a wall void, agents found more than $74,000 in cash. Dig deeper: A federal grand jury returned an indictment on Nov. 3 charging Cruz with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to court records. Cruz was arraigned on those charges Thursday in Atlanta and ordered detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending further proceedings. Federal prosecutors and drug enforcement leaders emphasized the danger the seized narcotics posed to local neighborhoods. "The staggering quantity of fentanyl Cruz allegedly possessed posed a critical threat to public health and safety. But for the intervention of law enforcement, the fentanyl could have reached the streets and had potentially fatal consequences," said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. The Drug Enforcement Administration is leading the investigation with assistance from the Cobb County Police Department, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward C. Robinson Jr. is prosecuting the case under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative targeting cartels, transnational criminal organizations and violent crime. What we don't know: Authorities have not yet released the specific street addresses for the three searched homes in Austell and Mableton. Officials also have not confirmed how the investigation began, whether additional suspects are involved or when Cruz will next appear in court. The Source: The information in this story was gathered from a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia, which detailed the federal court arraignment and search warrant findings, as well as social media posts from the U.S. Attorney's Office and the DEA Atlanta Field Division. Austell Crime and Public Safety News