The search for a runaway juvenile led to a drug arrest and recovery of more than $12,000 of drugs in Habersham County on Friday.
While searching for the runaway, a sheriff’s deputy located two males in a vehicle emitting a strong odor of marijuana on Dad’s Lane, Clarkesville.
As a result, the vehicle’s driver, Matthew Elvis Harden, 33, of Toccoa, was arrested for four counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, possession of dangerous drugs, drugs not in original container, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, according to .
“Harden informed the deputy that he could search his vehicle but not the storage unit,” said Special Agent in Charge Trent Hillsman of the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office.
The sheriff’s office contacted ARDEO and ARDEO agents executed a search warrant on the storage unit.
Officers recovered two pounds of marijuana with a street value of $10,000, Oxycodone pills with a street value of $600, Xanax with a street value of $10, THC wax with a street value of $50, THC cartridges with a street value of $1,700, and two firearms, according to Hillsman.
Harden was taken to the Habersham County Detention Center.
The investigation is still active.
