Undercover officer in his 20s helps bust drugs at Glynn Academy

An undercover officer posed as a Glynn Academy student for six months in a drug bust that led to eight arrests.

That undercover officer says he saw sales of cocaine, pills and marijuana on and off campus.

He even uncovered trafficking of stolen weapons.

Half of the people arrested in “Operation Bad Grade” were current and former students at Glynn Academy.

“I just think that’s pretty smart. It reminds me of that movie ‘21 Jump Street,’” said Glynn Academy sophomore Maria Zermeno.

But Glynn County Schools Police Chief Rod Ellis said the stakes are very real.

“Certainly, it’s been dramatized in the movies and in television, but we were trying to stick to what we knew would work here in the high school setting and not try and emulate any movie,” said Ellis.

Only one drug deal happened on campus, which is why Ellis said the undercover officer wasn’t just in the classroom; he was hanging out with students outside of school.

“He was young looking. He’s in his 20s but he looks like a high school student,” said Ellis. “He fully integrated as a student.”

“That’s scary. I find it scary,” said Glynn Academy sophomore Karla Alaho.

“I don’t have anything to hide, so I’m like, I just think it’s cool,” said Zermeno.

Ellis said the undercover operation is a new tactic for an old problem. He said he remembered drugs being sold when he was a student at Glynn Academy back in the 80s.

Ellis said, while the information that led the undercover officer to discover stolen weapons trafficking originated on campus, none of those guns were at the school.

Nineteen-year-old Derrick Scott, 19-year-old Detawn Hardy, 31-year-old Darnell Manson, 18-year-old Alexandra Harris, 27-year-old Joseph Mincey and 76-year-old Elnora Mincey were all arrested in “Operation Bad Grade.”

Two juveniles were also arrested.

Cox Media Group