A Bulloch County Correctional Institute guard was arrested Tuesday after a lengthy investigation, charged with smuggling drugs and contraband into the facility.
    Two inmates were charged as well, said Bulloch County Drug Suppression Team Inv. Kent Munsey.
    John Lonnie Bradley, 44, Edgewater Road, Claxton, was charged with crossing of guard lines with illegal drugs, marijuana possession with intent to distribute and criminal attempt to distribute a Schedule II Drug.
    Bulloch County Correctional Institute inmates Sydney Franklin Strickland, 27, and Timothy Seth Davis, 28, also were arrested on the same charges, he said.
    The investigation was handled by both the Statesboro Police Department and Bulloch County Drug Suppression Team. Munsey said both agencies received tips about Bradley and the inmates smuggling drugs and contraband into the correctional facility and decided to work the case together.
    The information each agency received involved Bradley picking up drugs from a drop-off point, which Munsey did not disclose.
    After months of investigating, officers received information Monday that Bradley and the two inmates, which were often seen with him, were to make a pick-up Tuesday.
    Officers waited and observed the three pick up the drugs — oxycodone, marijuana and loose tobacco, which is not an illegal substance but is considered contraband in the work camp — and take it back to the correctional facility.
    There, they arrested Bradley, Strickland and Davis, taking them to the Bulloch County Jail next door, booking them on listed charges, he said.
    “We had been hearing bits and pieces, and when we got the last piece of the puzzle, we made the arrests,” he said.
    Bradley is being held without bond in the Bulloch County Jail. Strickland and Davis, already in custody, will have Tuesday’s charges added to their record.
   
    Holli Deal Bragg may be reached at (912) 489-9414.