Drug Bust in Cartersville Nets $628K in Heroin

Dark tint on a vehicle that swerved Monday led to a big drug bust in Cartersville. 

Bartow-Cartersville Drug Task Force interdiction officers arrested two people on various drug charges as a result, according to a press release.

Task Force Commander Capt. Mark Mayton said in the release two men from St. Louis, Mo., were traveling along Interstate 75 where they became the subject of a traffic stop. A task force deputy stopped the vehicle for a suspected window tint violation and the driver's alleged failure to maintain a lane of travel. 

K-9 deputies became suspicious of the men’s behavior and requested consent to search the vehicle, but were denied by the driver, according to the release. 

The officers then used a drug-sniffing dog, which authorities say alerted to the presence of narcotics in the vehicle. A subsequent search turned up "a large quantity" of heroin and a small amount of marijuana, the release says. 

Mayton said in the release the amount of heroin seized is most likely the largest amount of the drug ever seized in Bartow County. It has a street value of more than $628,000 if sold in user amounts.

Heroin is a highly-addictive and rapidly acting opiate derived from opium, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center.

Derrick Decarlos Covington, 32, of 4706 St. Louis Avenue in St. Louis, Mo., and Tony Glover, 28, of 1723 Uycle Street, also in St. Louis, Mo., were arrested and charged with trafficking heroin and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Covington was additionally charged with failure to maintain lane and a window tint violation. 

Bartow County Sheriff Clark Millsap and Cartersville Police Department Chief Culpepper, who oversee the joint task force, say agents are following information gathered during the investigation and more arrest could result from the traffic stop.

Covington and Glover are being held at the Bartow County Jail pending a bond hearing.

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