On Tuesday morning, December 3, Columbia County deputies stopped a vehicle travelling on I75 and uncovered a trove of edible items laced with illegal drugs headed to the Tampa Bay area.
At around 10:20 am, deputies were patrolling the interstate highway within Columbia County when the suspect’s vehicle was stopped for a traffic violation. During the contact with the driver, deputies suspected the vehicle contained illegal drugs and conducted an investigation.
The investigation and subsequent search of the vehicle resulted in the seizure of 26.6 pounds of marijuana edibles, three pounds of mushrooms, a SKS assault rifle, and cash. The driver stated the items were being transported to a festival in Tampa for sale.
The driver and vehicle owner, Christopher Clark, 24 of Mobile Al was arrested on drug trafficking of over 25 pounds marijuana and carrying concealed firearm. The passengers, David Harris, 23 and Jessenia Milano Rodriguez, 25 both from Marietta Ga were arrested on the charge of carrying concealed firearms. Bond information is not known at the time of this release.
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is a member of the Gateway High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area team. The Drug Task Force detectives and patrol deputies work together to eliminate the flow of illegal narcotics in and through our county.
“This is a significant seizure of illicit drugs and highlights the tremendous work being done by the deputies to protect our community.” Sheriff Mark Hunter said, “These drugs were packaged in a manner that would attract children to them; keeping drugs off our streets is important, but our kids safety is our utmost priority.”
