"They were basically in the belly of the plane, in the cargo hold, and as they were being removed from the plane to be sent to baggage claim, that's where our k9 alerted to them," said Sgt. John Chafee with APD.
Five bags were found in the cargo hold.
In addition to the five bags, Atlanta police say two of the suspects were each carrying bags with marijuana inside, bringing the total to 174 pounds.
Four people were arrested and taken to Clayton County Jail.
According to police, 47-year-old Nicole Golden was arrested after retrieving one bag from the baggage claim. She was found to be in possession of 21.8 pounds of marijuana and was charged with trafficking marijuana and transported to the Clayton County Jail.
Naly Tong, 29, and Keomanyvanh Tong, 33, were arrested after retrieving one bag each from baggage claim. Additionally, each was found in possession of another bag containing marijuana. Keomanyvanh Tong was found in possession of 45.98 pounds of marijuana and Naly Tong was found possessing 43.34 pounds. Each was charged with trafficking marijuana and transported to the Clayton County Jail.
Jarvis Sheppard, 32, was also arrested after retrieving two bags from the baggage claim. He was found in possession of 63.28 pounds of marijuana and charged with trafficking marijuana and transported to the Clayton County Jail.
The plane had come into Hartsfield Jackson international airport from Seattle.
"There are several west coast cities we've identified as being ones that we will frequently see narcotics coming from. Seattle is one of them. It's something our drug interdiction officers are aware of."
According to authorities, some of the suspects claimed they didn't know what was inside the bags.
"Some of the statements that were made indicated that at least the individuals wanted us to believe this was not their bag. That they were either asked to pick it up for someone else or someone had packed it for them and they were not sure what was inside of it," Chafee said.
While this may or may not be true, Sgt. Chafee reminds everyone to never pick up a bag for someone or agree to transport it without knowing what's inside.
The marijuana has a street value of about $700,000.
The investigation is ongoing.
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