An investigation lasting almost a year-and-a-half, has resulted in ten indictments associated with a drug trafficking operation being run by two Georgia prison inmates.

Authorities say the two men serving time in Georgia – identified as Jose Balcazar and Miguel Manriquez, used illegal cell phones to direct a network of eight individuals both in Alabama and in Chattanooga, Tennessee – to sell methamphetamine.

The individuals were indicted for conspiring to traffic 50 grams or more of the drug, in four Alabama counties – including Etowah, DeKalb, Cleburne, and Marshall – with the majority of those drug transactions occurring in Etowah County.

The time period was between December of 2013 and May of this year (2015).

During a News Conference taking place Monday, law enforcement officials displayed a total of nine bags of methamphetamine seized during what was deemed” Operation Ghost Face”; the street value of the meth was approximately $400,000.

Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit Commander Rob Savage said the investigation had began with a relatively routine meth distribution case that quickly developed into the much larger multi-state probe – he added that by the time that investigation was finished one-half of the drug unit was actively involved in the case. Savage went on to say that this particular drug ring accounted for about 50% of meth sold in Etowah County over the last year.

Jose Balcazar is currently serving a 30 year sentence for a 2007 meth trafficking conviction, and Miguel Manriquez is serving a life sentence on a 2003 murder conviction.

Authorities say additional charges could be forthcoming for all those involved in the ring.

(al.com/www.al.com)