BUTTS COUNTY, Ga. A truck driver’s decision to inspect a shifted load led authorities to approximately 1,800 pounds of marijuana concealed inside his trailer at a Georgia truck stop.
The driver was traveling through Butts County earlier this week when he felt the freight shift inside the trailer. He pulled into the Flying J Travel Center on Buckshot Road, near Interstate 75 at Exit 201, and opened the trailer to check for damage.
That is when he discovered an open box containing packages of marijuana.
Instead of closing the doors and continuing toward his destination, the driver immediately called 911.
VIDEO COURTESY OF FOX 5 ATLANTA: Watch the station’s full report on the discovery. Selecting the video will take you directly to FOX 5 Atlanta’s official YouTube channel.
Deputies with the Butts County Sheriff’s Office responded and eventually uncovered roughly 1,800 pounds of marijuana mixed into the commercial shipment.
Butts County Sheriff Gary Long said the unidentified driver did not know the drugs were inside his trailer. Authorities determined he had booked the shipment through what appeared to be a legitimate freight broker in Sacramento, California, and picked up a trailer that had already been loaded.
The driver had reportedly completed a legitimate delivery in the Atlanta area and was headed toward Orlando, Florida, when the remaining cargo shifted.
Had that freight stayed in place, Long said, the concealed marijuana likely would have continued toward its destination without the driver ever knowing it was there.
Investigators pose beside packages containing approximately 1,800 pounds of marijuana seized from a commercial shipment in Butts County, Georgia. Photo courtesy of the Butts County Sheriff’s Office.
“This wasn’t good police work, this was a good truck driver,” Long said.
Driver will not be charged
Authorities cleared the driver of wrongdoing and said he will not face criminal charges.
The sheriff acknowledged, however, that doing the right thing came with a steep financial cost. Long estimated the driver lost approximately $10,000 in freight revenue after the shipment was seized.
The sheriff’s office plans to provide the driver with reward money because his decision to report the discovery resulted in such a large seizure.
For the driver, it was a situation with few good options. He unknowingly became responsible for a trailer containing an enormous amount of illegal cargo. Reporting it protected him from potentially being blamed later, but it also meant losing the load and the money attached to moving it.
Heavy equipment is used to unload palletized cargo from the tractor-trailer following the discovery of approximately 1,800 pounds of marijuana concealed inside the shipment. Photo courtesy of the Butts County Sheriff’s Office.
DEA takes over investigation
The Drug Enforcement Administration is now involved in the investigation.
Long told local media that investigators believe a criminal organization used an apparently legitimate freight transaction to disguise the movement of the marijuana. He said authorities were examining a possible connection to the Sinaloa Cartel, although the DEA has not publicly confirmed that connection.
No shipper, broker, carrier or warehouse involved in the shipment has been publicly identified. Authorities also have not announced any arrests connected to the marijuana.
Exactly when and where the drugs were placed inside the trailer remains under investigation.
The sheriff’s office said the seized marijuana will eventually be destroyed.
The case also demonstrates how easily an unsuspecting driver can become caught in the middle of a criminal freight operation. Drivers picking up sealed or preloaded trailers may have little opportunity to personally inspect the cargo, especially when the paperwork, broker and warehouse all appear legitimate.
In this case, a simple load shift exposed what the paperwork apparently did not.
The driver noticed something was wrong, inspected the freight and made the call that brought the entire shipment to a stop.
Reporting based on statements from Butts County Sheriff Gary Long and local reporting
