Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland announces the arrest of a Lavonia man for Level III trafficking of methamphetamine after a 47-pound package of meth made into candles was mailed to a Lavonia home from Mexico.
Arturo Rabiela Gonzalez was arrested after a controlled delivery of the 47-pound package at a home in Hart County made Wednesday, Sept. 11.
That methamphetamine, addressed to “Mike Lopez” of a Dairy Lane, Bowersville address, was intended for distribution within Northeast Georgia, Cleveland said.
The courier company, upon discovering the contents, contacted the Hart County Sheriff’s Office and arranged for a controlled delivery of the package to its intended destination.
Representatives of the Hart County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Northern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office coordinated efforts and secured an anticipatory search warrant for the location.
The DEA took possession of the methamphetamine and utilized a mock-up delivery vehicle to transport the drugs to the intended address, Cleveland said.
The occupants of the property denied that Mike Lopez lived at the address, but Hart County officers were able to use the search warrant to enter the premises, Cleveland said. Once inside, deputies discovered other empty packages addressed to Mike Lopez within the home.
The occupants identified Gonzalez as the individual who owned the empty packages and, at the request of law enforcement, contacted him and were instructed to take delivery of the package on his behalf, Cleveland said.
Gonzalez was arrested as a result.
“This joint effort between agencies, and the advice and strategy provided by District Attorney Parks White, prevented a massive amount of this terribly addictive substance from ending up on the streets of our communities,” Cleveland said in a written statement.
Level III trafficking of methamphetamine refers to more than 400 grams (0.88 pound).
Wednesday’s bust was the largest quantity of meth seized yet by the Hart County Sheriff’s Office.
