THOMASVILLE, Ga. — No longer do drug dealers sit on street corners, pockets bulging with illegal substances for sale.

“It’s covert,” Louis Schofill, Thomasville-Thomas County narcotics/vice Division commander, told a Wednesday meeting of the Thomasville-Thomas County Drug Commission.

Drug dealers try to figure out narcotics agents’ patterns. In turn, agents must stay on top of drug dealers’ methods of operation, the commander explained.

Schofill, who took command of narcotics/vice in April, said, “Our numbers keep going up. We’re very busy.”

He voiced surprise at the $7,000 high bid Tuesday for a coin collection seized in a 2009 federal Thomas County drug case. The coins were delivered Tuesday to the new owner.

“He’s very happy going through them,” Schofill said.

In other Drug Commission business:

• Seized vehicles and obsolete equipment are being addressed. Efforts are under way to identify owners of the vehicles, despite altered vehicle identification numbers and suspects who absconded.

• Schofill said narcotics/vice is working with surrounding counties to find and cut off drug suppliers.

“If an investigation goes past county lines, we’re going to pursue the investigation with other agencies,” he said.

• New, young agents “are on fire right now,” and all agents are making cases, the commander explained.

• Narcotics/Vice recently assisted Thomas County Prison Warden Bobby Geer with the discovery of 35 cell phones among inmates. Thomasville Police Department (TPD) personnel are retrieving information from the phones to determine if they were used in drug sales within the prison.

• Drug Commission members learned marijuana, spice and molly were retrieved from a toilet at the local probation office after a probationer attempted to flush the drugs.

• “We assisted in that big chase that went through the city,” Schofill recalled. The chase, which ended in Grady County, involved Albany suspects accused of stealing from a number of local and area stores and assaulting anyone who intervened.

• Thomasville Police Chief Troy Rich said his agency is prepared to put an officer in the drug squad, which is made up of police and Thomas County Sheriff’s Office personnel.

• Very little methamphetamine is being manufactured locally. “It’s coming in through Mexico,” the commander explained.

• Maj. Eric Hampton, TPD public information officer, told the commission the drug squad’s presence is “very noticeable” in the city.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820.