GA agriculture investigators search Atlanta State Farmers Market in efforts to check food supply

FOREST PARK, Ga. — Law enforcement swarmed on the Atlanta State Farmers Market in Forest Park on Monday morning. The show of force comes after a record drug bust earlier this year found meth hidden in a shipment of celery.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture told Channel 2′s Steve Gehlbach that it was a proactive move to make sure the food supply is safe. It’s also checking that the market is a safe and secure environment to work in.

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Gehlbach watched as state troopers and the Georgia Department of Agriculture inspectors set up multiple checkpoints in and out of the Atlanta produce terminal and farmer’s market.

Officials looked at licenses and proof of insurance while dogs sniffed around every work truck, box truck and tractor-trailer that entered or left the market.

In August, an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency uncovered nearly 2,500 pounds of meth in a load of celery.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper says actions like the search on Monday are about protecting your food.

“We’re doing our best at the Department to stay on top of it, so product that gets shipped into our state isn’t shipped to a grocery store that may have been tainted with drugs,” Harper said.

The department also wants to cut down on a rash of recent crimes from minor break-ins and car thefts to a targeted arson in Oct. 2023 that was caught on camera. There was also a theft of more than $300,000 of product from one vendor on the market.

“To show that force, that folks know that hey, we’re paying attention, that people are safe and the food supply is safe also,” Harper said.

Monday’s swarm was all done by the state. The Drug Enforcement Agency was not involved today. There was not any huge drug bust this time, but there were a number of contacts or engagements that led to further searches.

The commissioner told Gehlbach that they will go back over everything and report back exactly what they found.

RELATED STORIES:

• GA Agriculture Commissioner details efforts to crack down on traffickers hiding drugs in produce
• 3 people wanted after allegedly setting Atlanta State Farmers Market on fire
• Atlanta DEA seizes 2,380 pounds of meth hidden in celery at farmer’s market

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