CAIRO — Authorities say they’ve uncovered an operation in Grady County in which drugs were being exchanged for stolen firearms out of a Cairo residence.

Drug agents with the Grady County Sheriff’s Office uncovered the illicit operation last week during an investigation into firearms being sold from a residence on 4th Avenue Southeast.

The investigation, which was conducted together with the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, began after authorities received complaints of shady transactions occurring at the residence.

An AR-15-style rifle valued at $2,000 was purchased at the residence during an undercover operation. The weapon was later determined to have been stolen during a Thomas County burglary along with two other firearms. 

“The description of the firearm matched (the stolen rifle),” said Michael Logue, commander of the Grady County Sheriff’s Office Drug Unit, “and then when we actually made the purchase the serial numbers matched up,”

Investigators also learned that the weapons were being traded for methamphetamine.

Drug Unit agents and Thomas County Sheriff’s Office SWAT executed a search warrant Monday at the 4th Avenue residence where they found Matthew Martin. 

“He was just there,” Logue said. “He was living in the home.”

Investigators believe the actual leader of the operation, whose identity is known to law enforcement but whose name has not been released to the public, is still at large.

Logue said Martin, 42, was found with “about a quarter of an ounce” of methamphetamine on his person. Martin was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine.

No other weapons or drugs were located at the residence.

SWAT officers made the initial entry into the residence due to the potentially dangerous circumstances, according to a Drug Unit press release. Grady County investigators then took over the scene.

No one was injured during the raid.

“Sheriff Harry Young and the Grady County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office, the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office and the members of the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team for their assistance in this ongoing investigation,” the agency said in a release.

Additional warrants have been taken in Grady and Thomas counties for the theft and possession of the stolen firearms.

Anyone with information regarding the case is encouraged to contact the  Grady County Sheriff’s Office at (229) 377-5200 or the Thomas County Sheriff’s Office at (229) 225-3300.