GBI charges 4 Candler County residents with trafficking methamphetamine

CANDLER COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has arrested and charged four Candler County residents with trafficking methamphetamine.

Following a joint investigation by the GBI Southeastern Regional Drug Enforcement Office, the Metter Police Department and the GBI’s Atlanta Gang Task Force, the following individuals were booked into Candler County Sheriff’s Office Jail on Thursday:

• “Efram “Todd” Donaldson, age 55, of Candler County, GA, charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine, Use of a Communication Facility to Commit a Felony, and Conspiracy to Commit A Felony.
• Justin Aldrich, age 38, of Candler County, GA, charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine and Conspiracy to Commit A Felony.
• Nakia Donaldson, age 34, of Candler County, GA, charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine, Use of a Communication Facility to Commit a Felony, and Conspiracy to Commit A Felony.
• Byron Brown, age 35, of Candler County, GA, charged with Trafficking Methamphetamine and Conspiracy to Commit A Felony.”

A multi-agency drug investigation began in February 2024 and led to two search warrants, according to the GBI. Police executed a warrant at a home located in the 600 block of Marcus St. and the other was for a truck located in the 700 block of Kevin Ln. in Metter.

During the search warrant, police seized three vehicles, three rifles, four handguns, over $30,000, approximately 3 pounds of suspected marijuana and 1 ounce of suspected methamphetamine, the GBI said.

Over the course of the investigation, the GBI said law enforcement bought approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine in undercover buys.

Multiple GBI work units, along with Metter Police Department (MPD), the Treutlen County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO), Statesboro Police Department (SPD), Rincon Police Department (RPD) and the Candler County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) executed the search warrants and made the arrests.

Meanwhile, the Southeastern Regional Drug Enforcement Office and the Metter Police Department need your help. If you have information related to drug activity, you are encouraged to call SRDEO at (912) 685-5345. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.