TV Ad Outs Unregistered Pedophiles

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Screenshot of announcement with number to call. (Courtesy Muscogee County Sheriff's Dept)

A west Georgia Sheriff's Department is calling on the public to report missing sex offenders. And the department is using a tv advertisement to do it.

The 30-second spot shows photos and names of nine sex offenders who haven't registered where they live in Muscogee County.

Major Joe McCrea of the County Sheriff's Office says the response has been exceptional:

"As of today, we should have five of those nine in custody... the one that is scheduled to turn himself in today, has actually called, himself, and is making arrangements to turn himself in -- as a result of this CSA."

The spot began airing just before Thanksgiving.

McCrea says they intend to continue running the community service announcement several more weeks, due to the public response.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this issue, and here for coverage of the "To Catch a Predator" program.

Drug crackdown nets 25 suspected dealers

Drug crackdown nets 25 suspected dealers from Dave Bender and Vimeo.

Law-enforcement authorities say they've yanked 25 suspected drug dealers off the streets, with another 40 arrest warrants still outstanding.

Five undercover law-enforcement teams were led by Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents, who made the buys in recent days. Team members, using over $20,000 in funds seized in previous arrests bought crack and powered cocaine, Ecstasy and marijuana from dealers in the sting, announced Wednesday.

Sgt. Rick Stinson, Special-Agent-in-Charge of the sheriff department's Metro Narcotics Task Force told GPB News the roundup's aim is to get dealers off the streets:

"One of it's goals is to look for the mid and upper level drug dealers. But it's also important that we also target the dealers on the street. Oftentimes, they're the ones responsible for a lot of the street violence that we've been having."

Suspects ranged from 14 to 44-years of age. Many had prior drug arrests, and most are from the vicinity.

Similar operation in the area netted over 100 suspects in the last few months. Click here for previous GPB News coverage of the operation.

Click the green arrow below to hear this report.

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Columbus drug sweep nets 18 alleged pushers

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Muscogee Co. Sheriffs Dept., and Columbus police say they've yanked 18 suspected drug dealers off the streets, with another 40 arrest warrants still outstanding.

Officials, using funds seized in previous arrests, purchased over $20,000 worth of Ecstasy, crack cocaine, marijuana and controlled substances in the sweep. GPB News coverage of a similar roundup in May is here.

The law-enforcement officials, all part of the Metro Narcotics Task Force, made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren told reporters:

"We're targeting the individuals that cause the crime on the streets. We have drive-by shootings, we have robberies, we have car thefts, we have burglaries as a result of these street-dealing drug dealers in Columbus, Georgia. These are the individuals that the public sees on a day-to-day basis standing on the corner selling dope."

Click here for related GPB News coverage.