Three men have been charged with drug trafficking in what Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin called one of the biggest heroin seizures in his jurisdiction over the last 30 years.

The men are:

heroin bust: June 12, 2017 5 Gallery: heroin bust: June 12, 2017

Antonius Duane Porter, 23, of Anniston, charged with one count of drug trafficking in heroin, first degree marijuana possession and misdemeanor carrying a pistol without a permit.

Oderion Devonta Smith, 22, of Gadsden, with heroin trafficking.

Deontreiz Lewon Woods, 23, of Gadsden, with heroin trafficking and salvia possession.

The charges stem from two June 7 traffic stops on U.S. 278 coming into Etowah County from Georgia, Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit Deputy Commander Phil Sims said. The three men were in one vehicle, a silver 2011 Chevrolet Malibu, and had been the subjects of a month-long drug trafficking investigation.

Agents stopped the car and and smelled "an overwhelming odor of marijuana," Sims said. Porter gave permission to search the vehicle. Inside, Sims said, agents found a Glock 17 handgun near the driver's seat, and inside the car, agents later found six ounces of heroin and more than five ounces of marijuana. The street value of the heroin is estimated to be between $20,000 to $25,000.

Entrekin said Porter is the main focus of the heroin investigation and agents believe he has made a minimum of two trips to Georgia to pick up the drug. Investigators are still looking for who the heroin was to be delivered to in Etowah County.

A second traffic stop on a white 1984 Buick Regal resulted in the arrest of Smith and Woods, after agents detected a strong marijuana smell again. The two admitted to smoking pot on their way back from Georgia. Sims said agents, while standing outside the vehicle, noticed two plastic bags inside containing salvia. About one ounce fell out of Woods' pants onto the ground, Sims said.

All three men are being held in the Etowah County Detention Center on $100,000 cash bond each.

Entrekin said the arrests, as well as the rising tide of opiate overdoses seen across Alabama, show that sentencing reform laws are not working. Drug dealers, he said, go right back to selling the minute they leave jail.

"Folks, we've got to do something," he said. "We've got to realize that treating folks isn't the way to stop this. We've got to put people back in jail."

Other agencies involved in the arrests were the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, Alabama National Guard Counter Drug Unit, Boaz police and the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit.