MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — An ongoing undercover drug investigation led to the arrest Wednesday morning of a 30-year-old guard at Baldwin State Prison in Milledgeville, local authorities said.

Ocmulgee Drug Task Force Commander Wesley Nunn identified the suspect as Paul Starley, of McIntyre, which is in neighboring Wilkinson County.

Starley, who was taken into custody about 10:30 a.m. at the state prison where he worked as a state corrections officer II, was charged with two counts of Violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act for sale of heroin, Nunn told The Union-Recorder.

Nunn said Starley also was charged with one count of violation of oath of office.

After his arrest by undercover agents with the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force and state investigators with the Office of Professional Standards, Starley was taken to the Baldwin County Law Enforcement Center and jailed.

Nunn said Starley was on the job at the time drug agents went to the prison to serve him with an arrest warrant.

“He (Starley) was brought up to the front office where the warden is and put in custody,” Nunn said.

At the state prison, Starley’s 1994 Chevrolet pickup truck was searched, and later seized by the Ocmulgee Drug Task Force, he said.

Nunn said officials with the Georgia Department of Corrections sent a K-9 officer and his dog to the prison.

“He went through the truck searching, too,” Nunn said, noting no drugs were found inside the truck.

The separate charges of sale of heroin to an undercover drug agent did not take place at the prison, Nunn said.

Both illegal transactions happened at undisclosed locations in Baldwin County, Nunn said.

The local drug force commander said the ongoing undercover drug investigation has been under way for about four weeks.

The investigation is expected to yield additional arrests, Nunn said.