Police: One of the biggest meth busts department has seen
Adairsville police seized two and a half pounds of methamphetamine early Wednesday morning following a traffic stop on Ga. 140 in what has been dubbed one of the largest meth seizures in the department’s history.
According to an Adairsville Police Department news release:
The meth as well as over four ounces of marijuana and several hundred pills, ranging from Schedule I to Schedule IV controlled substances, were found by police in a camouflage backpack from the back seat. Several digital scales, glass smoking pipes and over $8,000 were also inside.
The driver, Adam Bennett Hall, 39, of 219 Victory Drive, Calhoun, and passenger Shanna Elizabeth Lau, 36, of 2211 Cash Road, Calhoun, who owns the vehicle, were arrested on numerous drug charges following a search of the vehicle.
Both are charged with felony trafficking meth, possession of meth with intent to distribute, possession of meth, possession of marijuana more than one ounce, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, possession of Schedule I controlled substance, possession of Schedule II controlled substance, possession of Schedule III controlled substance and possession of Schedule IV controlled substance.
Hall is also charged with traffic offenses for a “starburst” (broken) windshield and driving on an expired driver’s license. He and Lau were in the Bartow County Jail without bond Wednesday evening.
Adairsville officers pulled the vehicle over around 2:05 a.m. due to it having a busted windshield. The vehicle had also been spotted parking at two different businesses right across the highway from one another, raising suspicions by police.
Officers were checking on businesses when they first saw the vehicle, which had been parked at a gas pump at Patty’s Truck Stop, 940 Ga. 140, for around an hour. Shortly thereafter, the vehicle was parked across the highway at the QuikTrip gas station. Just after officers checked the truck parking lot behind the gas station, the vehicle was seen pulling onto the highway from the station.
Officers followed the vehicle and moved in for a traffic stop, with the vehicle stopping in the McDonald’s parking lot just down the road from the Interstate 75 ramp off Ga. 140.
After running Hall’s name through the Georgia Crime Information Center, he was arrested on a parole violation warrant.
Lau refused to allow officers to search the vehicle upon being asked, so a Calhoun Police Department K-9 unit was called in. The K-9 completed a “free-air sniff” of the vehicle and detected drugs inside. Officers then moved in to search the vehicle and found the backpack.
Lau was then taken into custody along with Hall.
“We would like to extend our appreciation to Calhoun P.D. for assisting us with the help of their K-9 officer,” the news release stated. “It is always beneficial when agencies have a good working relationship that can help each other in getting drugs off of our streets and out of our community.”