ATLANTA, Ga. – A federal indictment charges a 47-year-old Atlanta man with running a large-scale fentanyl pill pressing operation stocked with illegal drugs, weapons, and industrial manufacturing equipment.
Bartholomew Keeton Harralson faces charges including possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
“This armed felon allegedly ran a massive fentanyl pill pressing operation in our community, producing enough deadly fentanyl to potentially kill millions of people,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
According to court documents, on June 5, 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Harralson’s Atlanta-area home. Inside, they discovered more than 56 kilograms of fentanyl, 84 kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly 10 kilograms of heroin, and about four kilograms of cocaine—stored both as powder and in the form of hundreds of thousands of pressed pills.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg also says authorities found nine firearms, including one modified to operate as a machine gun, $145,000 in cash, and a book titled “How to Avoid Federal Drug Conspiracy & Firearms Charges.”
That same day, law enforcement executed another federal search warrant at Harralson’s Douglasville, Georgia house. There, authorities say they uncovered two large pill press machines capable of producing 25,000 pills per hour, along with three hydraulic presses used to form kilogram-sized bricks of narcotics, another 37 kilograms of fentanyl, 13 kilograms of methamphetamine, over eight kilograms of heroin, and more than six kilograms of cocaine—again in both powder and pill form.
In a machine shop behind the Douglasville property, court documents say law enforcement also seized approximately 1,375 pounds of binding agents used to manufacture pills, 564 punch dies to imprint pill markings, 19 firearms, four drum-style magazines, and a large supply of ammunition.
Federal officials describe the lab as “massive” and capable of producing illegal narcotics on an industrial scale.
“The scale of this fentanyl operation—run by a convicted felon—posed a grave threat to our community,” said Paul Brown, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “The presence of high-powered firearms alongside industrial pill-pressing equipment underscores the deadly convergence of drug trafficking and violence.
