The investigation was led by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s West Metro Drug Enforcement Unit, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations and CAGE units, and the AtlantaCarolinas HIDTA DEA Task Force.
According to Sheriff Darrell Dix, “In the early part of 2020, Investigators with the Spalding County Special Operations Unit began receiving bits of information about a major source of methamphetamine distribution that supplied a number of dealers in middle Georgia including Spalding County and the city of Griffin. During their initial investigation, it was learned that the source known to his clients as “The Russian”, was living in Atlanta while coordinating deliveries of methamphetamine, heroin and GHB across the state. Additional information was received about “The Russian” that led us to believe that he was also tied to fentanyl distribution, weapons, and violent crimes. Because of the broad area he was supplying, we contacted the GBI’s West-Metro Drug Enforcement Office and asked them to partner with us and take the lead in the investigation.”
“As the investigation grew, the DEA came to the table with more information and additional resources regarding Vandekerkhoff. Because of the combined effort between the GBI, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office, and the DEA-HIDTA Team, we were able to disrupt and begin dismantling his operation. During the course of this investigation and the execution of various search warrants, we recovered over 16 pounds of methamphetamine, trafficking amounts of heroin, and approximately 21 firearms.”
“Without our strong working relationships with the GBI, HIDTA, the United States Marshal Service, and others, this operation would have been very difficult to pull off. Because everyone involved worked together and put in a tremendous amount of time and effort, we were able to shut “The Russian” down and stop his threat to our local community and many other jurisdictions. Right now we are continuing to track down leads and search through records to locate more people that were involved in his network, gather more evidence, and try to determine if the substances he was distributing are tied to any fentanyl related deaths or overdoses that we and other agencies have encountered.”
“In addition to the Agencies already mentioned, we also assisted and supported by the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Marie Broder and her staff, Sheriff Gary Long and the Butts County Sheriff’s Office, the Riverdale Police Department, the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, Sheriff Stacy Nicholson and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, the Atlanta Police Department, Sheriff Pat Lebat and the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, the DEA Special Response Team, and the Georgia State Patrol. Each one of these agencies were able to bring essential resources to the investigation and we all worked together to stop a main source of illegal narcotics to the area.”
“Reaching out and working jointly with the GBI, DEA, and other agencies was the key to the success of this operation. These folks were willing to assist when asked, and the citizens of Spalding County should be proud of the teamwork that led to this arrest. I am thankful that our friends and colleagues were willing to help when we called, and we look forward to helping them and other agencies across the state of Georgia when needed or when their investigations lead them in our direction.”
“He thought he was untouchable, well, he just got touched. He was well-known in this part of the state, we want it to be well known that he is over, and he is being held in the Spalding County Jail without bond. He is now facing the possibility of Federal indictment. When they come for him, he won’t be hard to find, he’ll be right here.
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