Sheriff’s Office Breaks Up Major Drug Trafficking Ring

by | Mar 21, 2016 | Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…

Monday, March 21, 201620160318_150731

Sheriff’s Office Breaks Up Major Drug Trafficking Ring

Sheriff Mitch Ralston Reports:

In early February (2016), deputy sheriffs initiated an investigation into methamphetamine trafficking in the Calhoun area involving several local residents. The information the deputies acted upon indicated that large quantities of methamphetamine for resale were being transported into Gordon County and distributed from a number of locations, including local motels. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Traveler”, involved weeks of tedious undercover work and covert surveillance. The investigation culminated Friday morning, March 18th, when deputy sheriffs, armed with a number of both search and arrest warrants, executed a search warrant at a local motel near Interstate 75 in Calhoun. There, the deputies arrested several people, seized $50,000.00 in methamphetamine for resale, drug packaging materials and scales, and a loaded firearm. During the course of the investigation, undercover operatives had purchased large amounts of methamphetamine worth thousands of dollars on several occasions which led to the execution of the warrants on Friday (March 18).

The following defendants were arrested without resistance at the motel and charged as follows :

Bobby Gene Goforth, age 43, of Calhoun, charged with 3 counts of Trafficking in Methamphetamine, 4 counts of Sale of Methamphetamine, and other drug related charges,

Timothy Lumpkin, age 45, of Calhoun, charged with 3 counts of Trafficking in Methamphetamine, 4 counts of Sale of Methamphetamine, Felon With a Firearm, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime, and other drug related charges,

Stephanie Lynn Baldwin, age 31, of Chatworth, Georgia, charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine and other drug related charges, and

Heather Susanne Jones, age 41, of Calhoun, Georgia, charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine, Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime, and other drug related offenses.

Goforth has a lengthy history with the Sheriff’s Office and had been free on parole from a previous drug related offense for less than a year.

Sheriff Ralston said, ” My detectives worked some very long hours performing some great investigative work on this case. I will never give up my resolve to hold these individuals accountable for bringing this poison into our community. Now it will be up to a judge and a jury of their peers to decide the fate of these defendants in our Superior Court”