A Rockmart-area man was taken into custody on Tuesday evening and became the first arrest made by the newly-renamed Northwest Georgia Drug Task Force made up of Haralson, Paulding and Polk County agents.

Polk County Police received a federal probation warrant for the arrest on Tuesday of Jason Dean Bullard, 46, of a Rockmart-area address, and the NWGA DTF became involved when PCPD couldn’t get Bullard to come to the door, but believed they smelled both burnt and raw marijuana in the air around the residence.

PCPD officers involved in the incident called upon the new agents involved in the NWGA DTF to seek a search warrant and see if an arrest could be made.

Commander Steven Sweatt noted that new agents working with an agent already certified by the GBI came out with the warrant, and the subsequent search yielded just under an ounce of marijuana, and more than an ounce of methamphetamine.

Bullard, who was on probation for past methamphetamine trafficking charges from the federal level, was taken into custody without further incident.

He was booked on Tuesday evening on felony charges of trafficking in cocaine, illegal drugs, marijuana or methamphetamine; possession of methamphetamine; possession of methamphetamine with intent; possession of tools for commission of a crime and a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge.

No bond had been set as of this posting.

Bullard has not yet had a first appearance, and if bond is set and Bullard is released, U.S. Marshals will be able to take custody of Bullard on the probation violation warrant. He’ll likely remain in custody due to the nature of the charges and Polk County will instead have to handle his case before his federal charge is considered.

Sweatt noted this is the first arrest by the combined NWGA DTF in Polk County since operations were turned over to the newly-combined unit.

Two of the four spots that Polk and city police departments are sending to the Drug Task Force headed by the GBI have been accepted and are in the midst of their local training program.