Thousands of doses of meth were seized after a Wednesday traffic stop led police to the arrests of three people on drug charges.
It’s the latest bust by one of metro Atlanta’s most aggressive, drug-fighting law enforcement teams.
A Douglas County sheriff’s deputy noticed a white Chevrolet Tahoe weaving Fairburn Road just south of I-20.
A Douglas County sheriff’s deputy pulled over a white Chevrolet Tahoe for a traffic violation, and the deputy recognized the passenger, who police identified as Clint Dwayne Ayers, allegedly a known meth dealer in the area.
Based on Ayers’ behavior and his alleged past, police called in a K-9 unit and discovered, according to the sheriff’s office, about a pound of meth ice under Ayers’ seat. The meth was ready to be cut into thousands of street doses.
Police then learned that Ayers had allegedly just left the residence of Michael Bryan Rochester, who was already being investigated on meth possession and distribution suspicions.
After getting a search warrant for Rochester’s home, police arrested Rochester and a third person, Valerie Hope Bennet. Police said they found about 1.6 pounds of meth and marijuana, two handguns and about 25 Xanax tablets, all with a combined street value of about $100,000.
PHOTOS: Douglasville drug bust
Ayers and Rochester were charged with several drug offenses, while Bennet was charged with illegal possession of Fentalyl.
Police said the drugs could have been distributed in 4,500 individual doses of meth that will not make it to the streets across metro Atlanta.
“That’s 4,500 times members of this sheriff’s office are, hopefully, preventing someone from using what we consider to be a very, very bad drug,” said Sgt. Jesse Hambrick.
Metro Atlanta is a major hub for meth distribution up and down the eastern U.S.
In April 2017, Douglas County sheriffs busted another huge suspected meth operation, arresting 18 people.
PHOTOS: 18 arrested in huge drug trafficking case in Douglas County
“You don’t want to say that you can’t make a dent, because you can,” Hambrick said. "It’s just something that is a devastating drug, and we’re just glad to get it off the streets.”
