PRESS RELEASE – On 01/04/26 at 7:22 PM Clay County Investigators were working a drug interdiction operation when Lt. Tyler Faggard stopped a green GMC truck on Tusquittee Road near Moore Hill Road in Hayesville. The driver was found to be Steven Douglas Anderson, 28 years of age from Hayesville. Michael James Goode, 51 years of age from Hayesville, was found seated in the front passenger seat of the truck. An uninvolved female was found seated in the back of the truck.

Clay County Investigator Steven Smith, with his K9 Luca, soon arrived on scene. Luca was deployed around the truck and gave a positive alert for narcotics. A probable cause search of the truck yielded three vials of a yellow liquid, a pill bottle with 1.8 grams of a crystal-like substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine, a pill bottle containing Oxycodone, and miscellaneous other pills.

During search activities, Lt. Faggard a small baggy with two glass pipes, a clear baggy containing suspected marijuana, and a small clear baggy corner containing a shite powder that field tested positive for Ketamine laying on the ground directly behind where Goode was directed by the Officers to stand. Goode eventually claimed ownership of the items seized during this operation.

Goode was arrested and charged with Felony Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Methamphetamine (Schedule II), Felony Possession with Intent to Sell or Deliver Ketamine (Schedule III), Felony Maintaining a Vehicle for Drugs, Possession of a Oxycodone, and Possession of a Schedule III. Goode was issued a $42,000 secured bond for his release.