The new year will bring with it harsher penalties for those who bring drugs into Gordon County.

“We are focusing on traffickers, these are serious crimes,” said Gordon County Sheriff Mitch Ralston.

Gordon County, like many rural communities has found its drug problem booming since the mid 1980s. But recently Gordon County has been put in a unique category; both Bartow County and Hamilton County, Tenn., have made the list of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. With Gordon County nestled in between, the sheriff’s department has seen an increase in the volume of drugs seized within the county limits.

Ralston said that in 2009 the office seized hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana during traffic stops along interstate 75.

“These traffickers are running up and down (interstate) 75,” said Public Information Officer, Chief Robert Paris. “They are also running up highways 411 and 41.”

“We are arresting serious criminals,” Ralston said. “There are other activities going on in a lot of these cases. We are focusing on serious crimes.”

The Calhoun Police Department has also made several large seizures of illegal substances including 300 pounds of marijuana this past summer.

“After conducting surveillance of the residence we executed a search and found 300 pounds of marijuana in the closet,” said Calhoun Lt. Jay Marquez.

Marquez said the city has seen a decrease in those arrested for selling narcotics, but arrests for usage within the city limits is up.

“Overall dope and other narcotics have gone up in usage,” Marquez said.

Many of those bringing drugs into the county are committing more than one offense, through possessing an illegal or controlled substance, and trafficking. Punishment for these crimes falls under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, meaning someone committing these crimes together can be fined up to $250,000 or sentence to 20 years in jail.

“Those convicted have to serve at least 90 percent of their conviction,” Ralston said.

“We are taking them out of circulation,” added Paris.

In an effort to combat these drug trafficking related crimes, deputies have undergone intense training. In 2008 and 2009 deputies underwent more than 1,500 hours of drug crime related training.

Both Ralston and Paris say that in the long run, the training will save taxpayers money.

“We are not running a revolving door jail here,” Paris said. “We are not continually arresting the same people.”

But the department knows they are not in the fight on drugs alone, they depend on local citizens to provide information. The county has set up a hotline so that suspicious activity such as strange chemical smells or high volume traffic in a short-term period can be reported.

“We need the support of the community,” said Paris. “U.S. laws are based on compliance. The law abiding people of this county are our eyes and ears.”

The department has several new task forces in place to fight the growing drug problem; such as Community Crime Prevention task force, which consists of several K9 units.

The department has also assigned a detective to the Federal Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.

This program pays for the detective’s vehicle and any overtime occurred while on assignment.

The sheriff’s tip line is 706-879-5515.