The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) conducted an investigation into gang activity in Hart County, Georgia, United States and Franklin County, Georgia. It was called Operation Straight to the Hart.

On October 27, 2022, the GBI executed six search warrants simultaneously and arrested 11 people from Georgia and South Carolina, USA. Here are the arrestees:

Waller and Keese are accused of being involved in the murder of Mericus Jerome Scott of Royston, Georgia. On January 20, 2020, Scott was found dead in Anderson, South Carolina.

During the searches, investigators found marijuana, cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine and 3,4-Methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine (MDMA). A total of 25 firearms were also seized.

Anyone with information about Mericus Jerome Scott‘s death is asked to contact the GBI Athens Office at (706) 552-2309 or the GBI Tip Line at 1-800-597-8477.

Formed in 1937, the GBI was made an independent agency separate from the Georgia Department of Public Safety on February 28, 1974, The agency is divided into several parts including the Division of Forensic Sciences (DOFS), the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC), the Investigative Division, the Medical Examiner’s Office and the Crisis Intervention Team.

The GBI is headquartered in DeKalb County, Georgia. On August 25, 2022, 83rd Georgia governor Brian Kemp appointed Michael Register as the director of the agency.