JONES COUNTY — A traffic stop late Thursday led deputies to seize about 196 dosage units of fentanyl, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and two firearms and to arrest three men on fentanyl trafficking and other charges, the Jones County Sheriff’s Department said.
Deputy Lou Lowe stopped a passenger vehicle after noticing it had only one working headlight and an expired tag sticker, the department said. Lowe obtained consent from all three occupants to search the vehicle and found the suspected drugs and weapons, officials said.
Authorities identified the suspects as Raheen Franks, 24, of Quitman; London Bunch, 29, of Waynesboro; and Austin Salter, 24, of Buckatunna. Franks was charged with trafficking fentanyl while in possession of a firearm. Bunch was charged with trafficking fentanyl while in possession of a firearm, possession of marijuana in a vehicle and possession of paraphernalia. Salter was charged with trafficking fentanyl while in possession of a firearm, driving under the influence-other and no driver’s license, the department said.
Jones County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Division Sgt. Chase Smith praised the patrol division’s work after the arrests. “Great job by our Patrol Division, in particular Deputy Lou Lowe, in interdicting these traffickers and getting this deadly drug out of our communities,” Smith said. “We’ve been busy all week making illegal narcotics arrests and putting dealers in jail. Expect that effort to continue unimpeded in the days, weeks, and months ahead.”
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid linked to a sharp increase in overdose deaths nationwide, and local law enforcement agencies have stepped up interdiction efforts. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.
