Thanks to an alert Decatur County Sheriff’s Office investigator, a Decatur County man was arrested on drug possession charges after he entered the Decatur County Courthouse smelling like marijuana.

Investigator Chip Nix said 25-year-old Darryl Earl Smith of 212 Edwards Road came to his brother’s arraignment at the Decatur County Courthouse with an odor like that of the illegal drug marijuana.

Nix located a rental car Smith had driven to the courthouse and said the odor of the drug was streaming out of the car through an open window.

Cpl. Michael Logue and his search/drug detection dog, Koti, were called to the scene and the K-9 detected drugs in the car, said Nix.

The investigator then obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and inside located a misdemeanor amount of marijuana and a loaded .45-caliber handgun.

Smith was arrested and charged by Decatur County Sheriff’s investigators with possession of marijuana and possession of firearm while trying to commit crimes.

Nix said he had prior knowledge of Smith due to his alleged involvement in an attempt to ship a large amount of marijuana to Bainbridge using a mail shipping service last September.

In that incident, local law enforcement agencies and the Georgia Bureau of Investigations officers conducted a controlled delivery—intercepting the drugs and delivering them to intended recipient—of an estimated 20 pounds of marijuana.

Drug arrest made Monday

Bainbridge Public Safety investigators arrested a Bainbridge man with a felony amount of marijuana at his home on Monday, March 2.

Investigators Chris Jordan, Mark Esquivel, James Dollar and Alton Brock served a search warrant at Hutto-McIver Apartments, Apt. 7-B.

Inside the home they discovered more than one ounce of suspected marijuana, a felony offense under Georgia law, according to Investigator Jordan.

They arrested 22-year-old Dexter Laron Davis, charging him with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a housing project.