DRUG ARRESTS SEEN AS STEP TOWARD REDUCING DEALING

NEWPORT NEWS -- In breaking up a suspected drug ring this week,
authorities believe they have made a dent in the amount of crack
cocaine coming into the city and sent a strong message that dealing
won't be tolerated.

"By no means is it the last message," Lt. Trent Sturgis, commander of
the Newport News Police Department's vice narcotics division, said
Friday, a day after local and federal authorities finished rounding up
a dozen suspected drug dealers.

"We have a commitment to the community that we're going to keep at
it," Sturgis said. "I think the community will feel a lot better."

On Thursday, authorities announced they had arrested a dozen men
suspected of bringing cocaine into the city's East End from Houston,
Texas.

All but one of 13 men named in a federal criminal complaint were
picked up over the past few days.

"Thank you, Lord," Annie Williams, president of the Dimon Community
Crime Watch, said she thought when she heard the news. Her crime watch
covers the area around 26th Street in the East End.

"Any time you can get drugs out of the neighborhoods, it's very good,"
Williams said.

One of the suspects, however, Leo Lavar "Va Boo" Vaughn, 21, remained
at large Friday.

The arrests are the result of a joint operation between the FBI and
Newport News police that began in spring 2002, but uncovered evidence
of dealing and criminal activity going back several years.

Sturgis said the operation ranks "right at the top" compared to others
that have targeted drug dealers because of the people involved.

The operation went after what authorities called upper-level dealers
who are also believed to have been involved in violent criminal acts.
One of the suspects, Jesse Tramont "J Pooh" Gilmore, 26, was charged
in a 1998 slaying, but the charges were dismissed when witnesses
failed to show up for trial.

Last month, the man considered to be the kingpin of the organization,
Christopher Jowers Bradley, 21, was charged with shooting a Hampton
man four times, including in the head and heel.

Other suspects had been seen with or sold guns, according to the
criminal complaint unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

"They brought terror to the community," Sturgis said of the suspects.
"They were known as violent offenders in the community."

Authorities tracked thousands of dollars changing hands as well as
large amounts of drugs, although they haven't said exactly how much
powder and crack cocaine they believe was being trafficked.

The cocaine was transported from Houston to the Newport News area by
air and ground, according to the complaint. Three of the suspects were
arrested Wednesday night at Newport News/Williamsburg International
Airport on their way back into town.

The arrests encouraged East End neighborhood crime watch groups, which
for years have struggled to improve an area plagued by violence and
drug activity. But some residents wondered whether the arrests would
really make a difference.

"People are shooting people left and right" and standing around on
street corners and in front of neighborhood markets scaring residents,
said Queenie Thomas, vice-chairperson of the 37th-Roanoke Avenue Crime
Watch.

"I'm just hoping it will do some good," Thomas said of the arrests. "I
want to see if anything on the street changes. That'll show us
something is being done."

A big concern among residents when suspected drug dealers are arrested
is that others will step up and take their places. But Sturgis said
authorities will be looking for anyone who tries to do that and go
after them, too.

The arrests make up the first phase of the continuing investigation
and will likely spin off into additional investigations, he said.

"The message is not of fear itself," Sturgis said, "but drug dealers
looking over their shoulders? You can be rest assured that's going to
happen."

Most of the suspects are charged with conspiracy to distribute and
possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and face up to 10
years to life in prison and a $4 million fine.