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Ga. deputies find $50,000 in meth wrapped like birthday gift

Times-news.com, August 29, 2013

DALTON, Ga. — A man and woman in north Georgia were arrested Tuesday when authorities found $50,000 worth of methamphetamine in their car, wrapped up like a birthday present.

David Willie Baker, 31, and Kathleen Francis Williams, 18, both of Canton, Ga., were charged Wednesday with possessing and trafficking meth. They remained in the Whitfield County jail without bond Wednesday afternoon.

"We got information they were going to be delivering a large quantity of meth up here, and our narcotics unit and the Georgia State Patrol was set up waiting on them," said Whitfield County Sheriff's Office Capt. Rick Swiney.

He said the duo were stopped on Ga. Highway 201 and consented to a search. Officers saw a package wrapped in brown and white paper and decorated with a pink bow. A balloon was in the back seat with the package.

"I guess they assumed that if they got stopped, the officers wouldn't open a birthday present," Swiney said.

The birthday present scheme, along with trying to mask the scent of drugs with air freshener, is a common trick Swiney said didn't fool deputies. Investigators found 20 ounces of meth, which Swiney said has a street value of about $50,000. They seized the drugs, about $800 in cash and the 2000 Acura.