Joint Investigation leads to Arrest of Drug Trafficker

Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office News Release

For Immediate Release July 20, 2016 White County, GA

On July 20, 2016 the White County Sheriff’s Office and the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office (ARDEO), during the course of an active drug trafficking investigation, arrested 44 year old Lars Prentice Johnson of Murphy, North Carolina. Johnson is charged with trafficking methamphetamine.

Acting on information gleaned from an investigation initiated by Towns County Sheriff’s Office and being conducted in conjunction with the ARDEO, deputies of the White County Sheriff’s Office initiated a traffic stop of a vehicle occupied by Johnson. Within a concealed container of the vehicle deputies and agents of the ARDEO discovered more than one pound of suspected methamphetamine and a substantial amount of cash. The estimated street value of the suspected methamphetamine is $16,000.00.

The investigation of Johnson’s methamphetamine trafficking organization, operating primarily in Towns, White, and Hall counties, Georgia, as well as Cherokee County and Clay Counties, NC continues.

Sheriff Clinton would like to thank the White County Sheriff’s Office and all our partners in the ARDEO for their help in this matter and their continued commitment to keeping our communities safe.

The Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office is a multi-agency unit that consists of the following Sheriff’s Offices: White County, Lumpkin County, Towns County, Banks County, Habersham County, Stephens County, Rabun County, and the Cleveland Police Department, along with the Georgia National Guard Counter Drug Task Force, the Department of Public Safety, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Contact: Mitchell Posey
(706) 348-7410