Meth-soaked rug smuggled via Atlanta airport leads to prison for Middle Georgia man
A Fitzgerald man linked to an international drug-smuggling operation pleaded guilty to federal narcotics charges in Macon last week after a methamphetamine shipment bound for him was intercepted last year at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The man, Chad Williamson, who will be sentenced later, could be sent to prison for 10 years on up to life and be ordered to pay up to a $10 million fine. He pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to possession-with-intent-to-distribute meth.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia, which announced the plea Tuesday, Williamson was the intended recipient of a drug shipment from Mexico that was intercepted at the Atlanta airport in March 2021.
“The packages were ... marked as religious image and/or Bible gift; one of the boxes contained a methamphetamine-soaked rug, which can be chemically extracted for use,” the statement said.
Soon after the drugs were found, DEA agents went to Williamson’s home in Ben Hill County, about 75 miles south of Macon. They later unearthed “a number of” telephone messages that he had sent to a supplier identified in the statement as “Costa Chris.”
“The messages,” the statement went on, “revealed an on-going relationship between the two regarding illicit controlled substance deliveries requiring tracking and other drug deals. In all, a total of 1926.2 grams of methamphetamine was present in the packages, 459.2 grams of which was determined to be 98% pure.”