On Tuesday, several state, county, and local law enforcement officers worked together to serve several arrest warrants in Hattiesburg and Forrest County, announcing nine major weapons and drug arrests in the area.
Members included officers from the Hattiesburg Police Department, Forrest County Sheriff’s Department, Metro Narcotics, Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms; and Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents.
In the arrests, seven weapons were recovered, while drugs included about five pounds of methamphetamine, ecstasy, marijuana, Xanax bars, and other illegal narcotics.
"Today's arrests are a culmination of hard work, collaboration, and cooperation between multiple agencies to make our communities safer," Forrest County Sheriff Charlie Sims said. "Crime and drugs have no jurisdictional boundaries and coordinated efforts and information sharing always produces superior results. I want to personally thank all of the agencies involved for a successful operation."
U.S. Attorney Hurst said, “Under Project EJECT, we are taking drug dealers and violent criminals off our streets and making our communities safer. Today’s announcement of the indictment and arrest of nine prominent drug dealers in the Pine Belt is a result of the important work that these brave men and women in law enforcement have been doing to clean up our streets, make our neighborhoods safe, and protect our citizens. I want to thank our agents, officers, deputies and prosecutors for their hard work in bringing these criminals to justice.”
Hattiesburg Police Chief Anthony Parker thanked Hurst and his staff for their assistance in the crime reduction plan.
“Through Project EJECT, you have helped us remove some of the most violent offenders from the streets of Hattiesburg,” he said. “I want to thank U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and staff. By combining our resources as a team, it provides us an avenue for continued success in our fight against crime.”
In the past year, under the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Project EJECT and led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew W. Eichner, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Hattiesburg Police Department, the Lamar County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Forrest County Sheriff’s Office, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and others have focused investigations on career criminal offenders, armed narcotics traffickers, and documented gang members in and around Hattiesburg and throughout Forrest County.
These investigations involved controlled purchases of illegal narcotics, targeted followups and interviews driven by and based upon intelligence and evidence gathered, and coordination among prosecutors and officers to prioritize and marshal resources towards the worst criminal offenders throughout the Pine Belt.
This collaborative effort has resulted in the indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of seven defendants on federal drug charges, one of whom has already pleaded guilty.
• In January 2020, Shane Ware trafficked more than 200 grams of methamphetamine with 100 percent purity into Hattiesburg.
• On two separate occasions in January 2020, Bradford Mark sold almost half a kilogram of methamphetamine with purity levels ranging up to almost 90 percent.
• In February 2020, Alfred Richards sold more than 100 grams of methamphetamine in Hattiesburg with 99 percent purity.
• On two separate occasions in February 2020, Demetric Evans sold a total of more than 200 grams of methamphetamine with 100 percent purity.
• On two separate occasions in March 2020, Kevin Taylor trafficked almost half a kilogram of methamphetamine into Hattiesburg, which was 99 percent pure, extremely deadly.
• Earlier this year, Amos Blanks was indicted in federal court for having trafficked meth in Hattiesburg in 2017 and 2019. Blanks pleaded guilty to one count of methamphetamine trafficking on July 23 and will be sentenced before Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett on November 18 at 9:30 am.
• Georgio R. Scott was indicted for being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Project EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for “Empower Justice Expel Crime Together.”