AUGUSTA , Georgia ( CNN ) -- Walking into the Colur Tyme Tattoo Parlor is a lot like walking into a head shop . One wall is lined with gang monikers and symbols , the other with bongs for smoking marijuana and other drugs -- one even shaped like a skull . The Colur Tyme Tattoo Parlor was set up by authorities to get at the heart of gang members . Only this head shop was a setup . It was a police front in a sting operation to bust gangs in this Georgia river city that most people associate with the Masters Tournament -- not violent thugs with high-powered weapons . Authorities said some guns sold to the shop were used in crimes just hours earlier . The tattoo parlor was the brainchild of Richmond County Sheriff Ron Strength , who wanted to snuff out gangs carrying out violent crimes in his east Georgia community . The idea was to create a place where the gang members would feel right at home , said sheriff 's Lt. Scott Peebles . And that they did . `` We put the idea in their heads that there 's no way these guys are in law enforcement , '' he said . On Wednesday , more than 100 sheriff 's officers , state investigators and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco , Firearms and Explosives carried out a major bust after an 18-month joint investigation into the gang activity . Watch cops set up tattoo parlor » . Sixty-eight suspects were arrested on charges ranging from trafficking of illegal weapons to serious drug offenses . Authorities seized more than 300 weapons , including high-powered assault rifles . Rich Marianos , a special agent with the ATF , said such gang activity is spreading across the nation , with small-town gangs increasing their ties with gangs in major cities . For instance , New York gangs have begun moving as far south as the Carolinas , where they set up operations to buy and sell guns and drugs , he said . Chicago gang activity extends more than 60 miles into the Illinois city 's suburbs for narcotics and weapons trading . In fact , Marianos said the ATF has begun seeing some Chicago gangs establishing a `` pipeline '' for illegal arms more than 500 miles away in Mississippi . `` It 's not just an urban problem , '' Marianos said . `` We 're seeing it all over the country . '' The ATF , he said , has seen one of the most dramatic increases in gang activity in the last three years and is cracking down . `` We want to look at a way to go after these offenders and prevent it before it happens , '' he said . `` [ We 're ] making the community safer by disarming the bad guys -- not taking guns away from the American citizen , but going after the people who should n't have them in the first place . '' That 's why setting up a tattoo parlor in Augusta was key . Strength , the Richmond County sheriff , said he remembers when the worst crimes in these parts were lawn mower thefts and vandals pushing over birdbaths . But those days are long gone , with gangs such as the Georgia Deadly Boys and Fairington Gangster Thugs causing mayhem on a regular basis . `` In the past 2 1/2 years , we 've noticed some major changes , '' he said , `` with the type of criminal offenses they were involved in . '' So he devised the undercover business . The Colur Tyme Tattoo Parlor on Tobacco Road was set up on the outskirts of Augusta . It 's a location not heavily patrolled by police , but staffed 100 percent by undercover agents . Business was slow at first , but then things took off . Gang members soon began dropping in to sell guns , drugs and even stolen cars , authorities said . Every transaction was recorded by surveillance cameras around the store . Soon the shop had so much business the Richmond County Sheriff 's Office had to call in reinforcements from the ATF . Four federal agents helped the sheriff 's deputies man the counters ; others worked behind the scenes . Vanessa McLemore , ATF special agent in charge , said the teams had to coordinate their behaviors so it seemed like they fit in the store . `` They spent a lot of time together learning each other 's mannerisms , learning each other 's body language . It had to be a brotherhood , '' she said . On the store counter was a jar of colored markers to invite clients to write their favorite gang affiliation on the wall . Peebles said agents used the wall for intelligence . `` At the very least we got names , '' he said . The shop even put up its ' own MySpace page . `` You think it , we ink it '' was the MySpace slogan . It featured the back of a tattooed man , and below in large red letters agents told visitors to the site , `` We buy what others wo n't . '' Authorities said the guns came rolling in , and then came this week 's bust . `` Today marks the end of one era and the beginning of another , '' McLemore said . `` The era that is ending is one that has brought destruction and decay to the streets of Augusta . '' E-mail to a friend .
Tattoo parlor run by cops leads to major bust of Georgia gangs . Authorities even set up a MySpace page as part of the ring . ATF says big-time gangs are gaining ground outside major cities . ATF agent : `` We 're seeing it all over the country ''