PUTNAM COUNTY, Tenn. — A months-long joint drug investigation involving multiple law enforcement agencies has led to the arrest of a Nashville man on felony drug charges, authorities announced. Investigators determined that the 33-year-old Nashville man, Kortez Woods (DOB: June 22, 1992), was allegedly involved in the sale and delivery of controlled substances. This activity reportedly brought him from Nashville to the Cookeville area in Putnam County, where the investigation focused.

Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's (TBI) Drug Investigation Division, in collaboration with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, Cookeville Police Department, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, Overton Police Department, Livingston Police Department, and Pickett County Sheriff’s Office, initiated the probe into drug trafficking activity in December.

Investigators developed information that Kortez Woods (DOB: June 22, 1992) was allegedly selling and delivering controlled substances in the Putnam County area.

During an operation conducted Wednesday in Cookeville, authorities located methamphetamine and cocaine in Woods' possession. He was taken into custody and charged with two counts of Possession with Intent to Manufacture, Deliver, or Sell a Schedule II controlled substance—one count for methamphetamine and one for cocaine.

Woods was booked into the Putnam County Jail, where he remains in custody on a $180,000 bond, according to jail records. WGNS later verified and as of 5PM on Wednesday evening (02/04/26), he was still behind bars. The suspect remains in custody at the Putnam County Jail, located in Cookeville, TN. 

The TBI emphasized its ongoing collaboration with local and regional partners to combat drug trafficking and distribution throughout Tennessee.

The TBI’s Medicaid Fraud Control Division receives 75 percent of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $11,616,724 for federal Fiscal Year 2025-2026. The remaining 25 percent, totaling $3,872,240 for Fiscal Year 2025-2026, is funded by the State of Tennessee.

DISCLAIMER: All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Arrest records or information reported by NewsRadio WGNS and www.WGNSradio.com are not an indication of guilt or confirmation that a crime has been committed.