DRUG SWEEP LEADS TO ABOUT 100 ARRESTS

Drug arrests shot up in South Mississippi on Wednesday in the second day of
a drug sweep coordinated by state narcotics agents.

More than 100 warrants were issued for the arrests of street-level drug
dealers in four area counties in drug round-ups that started at sun-up
Tuesday and began again around daybreak Wednesday.

By nightfall Wednesday, authorities had arrested most of the drug dealers
targeted in a six-month undercover investigation.

Officials are continuing to search for the remaining suspects.

Operation Hot Spots II is the code name given by the Mississippi Bureau of
Narcotics, which coordinated the effort with local law enforcement
agencies. The goal of the operation is to improve the quality of life in
neighborhoods around the state by reducing street drug sales and related
crimes, said MBN Director Don Strange.

With MBN's help Wednesday, Gulfport police arrested most of their 30
suspects, while authorities in George and Greene counties arrested most of
the 12 suspects they had targeted. Drug sweeps on Tuesday focused on 31
suspects in rural Hancock County, while officers in Bay St. Louis and
Waveland looked for 35 suspects. Most were arrested by Wednesday night.

"Arresting street-level dealers devastates the drug community, at least
temporarily," said Gulfport Police Lt. Ed Twomey. "But these arrests and
help from state and federal agents can lead to critical information about
the mid-level dealers and drug traffickers who think they're too smart to
get caught."

Property crimes usually go down following a drug sweep, Hancock County
Sheriff Steve Garber said.

"Street dealers often steal and commit other crimes to feed their own drug
habit," said Garber. "We put a dent in their business for a few months."

Authorities statewide targeted more than 380 drug suspects in the Hot Spots
investigation, a third of which were in South Mississippi.