Jake Browning
reporter@thefranklinpress.com
What began as a routine traffic stop on New Year’s Eve turned into one of Franklin’s biggest drug busts of the year.
Just after 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31, officer Randy Dula with the Franklin Police Department pulled over a vehicle for speeding on Sylva Road.
After smelling what he thought was marijuana, Dula searched the vehicle driven by Tam Tran of Buford, Georgia.
The search uncovered 109 grams of methamphetamine, along with heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana, $8,600 in cash and an AR-15 rifle.
Franklin police turned traffic stops into drug busts several times in 2019. Still, the meth confiscated made up about a third of the amount the department had seized in stops all year.
“It was a great bust and great work by the officer,” Adams said. “We’ve had a very successful year with traffic stops. It’s how we’ve gotten about 300 grams this year of methamphetamine alone.”
Dula said he wasn’t too surprised by the results of the stop.
“That’s just what I always look for,” Dula said. “It was just like any other day.”
Tran was charged with one misdemeanor count of speeding, one misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon, one misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, one felony count of possession of firearm by felon, one felony count of maintaining vehicle for controlled substance use, one felony count of possession with intent to sell or distribute marijuana, one felony count of possession with intent to sell or distribute a schedule I controlled substance, one felony count of possession with intent to sell or distribute cocaine, one felony count of trafficking heroin by transportation, one felony count of trafficking methamphetamine by transportation, one felony count of trafficking heroin by possession and one felony count of trafficking methamphetamine by possession.
Tran was jailed under a $6,000 secured bond and had a first court date scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 8.