Crime

Macon pair ferried suitcases of marijuana aboard Atlanta airport shuttle, cops say

File photograph of marijuana plant.
File photograph of marijuana plant. Associated Press

Talk about your dope moves.

An alleged scheme to ferry 11-plus pounds of marijuana from Atlanta to Macon in two suitcases aboard an airport-shuttle van apparently went to pot when one of the suitcases was left behind in a parking lot.

The suitcase, a large, olive-green one, caught the eye of a man in the Groome Transportation parking lot on Sheraton Drive.

The man took the bag to the shuttle service’s front desk.

While workers there tried to track down its owner — around the time they caught wind of the raw reek of suspected marijuana inside — a woman called and asked if anyone had found a suitcase.

Yes, she was told.

The bag was hers, she said, and she was on her way to retrieve it.

But the police got there first and encountered another woman who had been sent to collect the bag.

That woman led investigators to Laquantise S. Daniels, who allegedly left the suitcase behind with 11.2 pounds of pot in it, according to an arrest warrant and an incident report of the April 2 episode.

This week, Daniels, 26, of Monroe County, and Billy Joe Howard Jr., 34, of Macon, were jailed on drug charges related to the case.

Daniels, according to the arrest warrant, told investigators that she brought both suitcases to Macon for Howard for a $500 fee.

This story was originally published July 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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