Agents found what they claim to be Georgia’s greatest criminal enterprise ever, bringing ecstasy, meth, firearms, cell phones, and other items into jails.
According to a Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) special agent, “Operation Skyhawk” concluded Thursday with raids on one of the numerous networks at the focus of the investigation.
One of these networks includes Thunder Drones in Gwinnett County, which uses drones to deliver drugs, telephones, and other items into Georgia jails.
According to GDC Commissioner Tyrone Oliver, corrections agents stormed Thunder Drones, armed with a search warrant and arrest warrants for Robert Schwartz in connection with drone dumps of contraband into Georgia prisons.
He claims they collected more than 50 drones in two simultaneous raids, and if the allegations are proven accurate in court, he believes Schwartz will be sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
“This will be the largest gang RICO case in the history of the state of Georgia and it originated by the men and women here at the Georgia Department of Corrections,” Oliver told reporters.
Oliver says prosecutors are collaborating with GDC special agents to petition grand juries across the state to return RICO and gang indictments against Schwartz and others.
“If you face gang and/or RICO charges, what’s your response?” Schwartz was asked. While being escorted away by agents.
“All I do is repair drones.” I’ve been servicing radio-controlled devices for 50 years. Schwartz said, “I’m not sure what they’re even here for.”
GDC Special Agent Gregg Phillips said the investigation, which began in November 2022, resulted in the recovery of a large amount of drugs, including 51 pounds of what seemed to be ecstasy.
However, while the pills have not yet been analyzed in a lab, Phillips believes many of them contained lethal fentanyl.
He claims that takedowns outside prisons during the “Operation Skyhawk” inquiry yielded 22 firearms, which he believes were intended for drone security, as well as 273 telephones, which were recovered before they reached prisons.
“We stopped roughly 170 prison drops during the investigation,” Phillips went on to say. “We have detained 146 people in connection with contraband drops. Of those, eight are or were correctional officers.
According to Oliver, Thunder Drones employee Nelda Alber was also detained on charges relating to drone drops of contraband and inmate communications.
The agents conducted a second raid on Schwartz’s residence.
“We did electronic interceptions on Mr. Robert Schwartz, his business here Thunder Drones, and inmates and associates of inmates,” Phillips went on to say.
According to GDC Office of Professional Standards Director Matt Wolfe, while they were there, two males drove into the Thunder Drones parking lot and attempted to leave.
A search of their automobile revealed a stolen gun and one individual was apprehended.