Major bust nets 3 arrests

A routine road checkpoint in Cohutta, Ga., led to the arrest of three people Thursday night after officers found a record 1.5 pounds of suspected hallucinogenic mushrooms, cocaine, methamphetamine, marijuana and LSD in their car.

Officers with the Georgia Department of Public Safety were conducting the checkpoint on Georgia State Route 71 at Wolfe Street in Cohutta, checking commercial vehicles for compliance and screening drivers for impairment, according to a Facebook post by the Cohutta police department.

One officer stopped a car whose driver, from Ellijay, was suspected to be under the influence of drugs. A passenger was wanted in Blue Ridge, Ga., on warrants for possession and distribution of synthetic narcotics.

Officers searched the vehicle with help from the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit and found what the department called the largest known seizure of mushrooms in county history from a single traffic stop.

The driver was charged with DUI and obstruction, the passenger was arrested for being a fugitive, and the drugs were turned over to the county as evidence.

All three occupants were also charged with possession with intent to distribute on multiple narcotic substances and the vehicle and their possessions were seized for asset forfeiture legal proceedings.