ATLANTA, Ga. — The Georgia Drug Enforcement Agency the community is facing a drug threat unlike ever before.

Special Agent in Charge Robert Murphy tells Channel 2 Action News drugs such as meth, and fentanyl can be found in places such as Buford Highway, Milton, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs, just to name a few.

Murphy said what makes the drugs so dangerous is that they are man-made.

“They’re very cheap to produce, very addictive, very effective, and most importantly very profitable, and most importantly very profitable,” Murphy said.

Officials said Metro Atlanta is the drug business hub in the United States, meaning many people make millions of drugs for the Mexican drug cartels.

“Here, it’s safer to set up operation,” Murphy said. “There’s a population that’s easier to blend in to; there’s the money, there’s the highway system, so all of the things that make this attractive for corporate America make it attractive for the cartels.”

Murphy describes how cartels hide in plain sight in communities such as Milton and Johns Creek.

“They’re not driving around in flashy cars and loud music calling attention to themselves,” Murphy said. “They are trying to operate like businessmen because they want to stay in the game, making money and getting it back across the border.”

Murphy on what he would tell a young person about experimenting with drugs. “It’s not Russian Roulette because, with Russian Roulette, anyone playing it knows what they’re playing,” Murphy said. “They don’t know what they’re experimenting with these drugs right now; they don’t know that they’re likely going to die.”

Officials said 107,000 Americans die every year from drug overdoses, many accidental.

The DEA has destroyed five drug cartels but said two still operate in the area.

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