JACKSON, MS—Eight additional members or associates of the Black Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords Street Gangs have been arrested on federal drug charges in southeast Mississippi. In the afternoon of Feb. 2, 2017, FBI agents, task force officers, and sheriff’s deputies arrested the following suspects in southeast Mississippi:

• Learthur Silas, a.k.a. “Lil A,” age 36, of George County, Mississippi.
• Melvin Walker, a.k.a. “Hotboy,” age 27 of Greene County, Mississippi.
• Tykail Moye, a.k.a. “Ty,” age 23, of George County, Mississippi.
• Darrell Dennis, a.k.a. “Weezy,” age 31, of George County, Mississippi.
• Mario Fairley, age 36, of George County, Mississippi.
• Christopher Bolton, age 31, of Jackson County, Mississippi.
• Marquis Collins, age 29, of Jackson County, Mississippi.
• Edward Brown, a.k.a. “Black,” age 30, of Jackson County, Mississippi.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 2, 2017, seven suspects were arrested (announced on Thursday):

• Jerry Street, 35, of George County, Mississippi.
• Garnett Edwin Smith, 38, of George County, Mississippi.
• Alisha Christina Smith, 36, of George County, Mississippi.
• Timothy Adam Havard, 40, of George County, Mississippi.
• Mareo Green, 36, of Greene County, Mississippi.
• Tarsen Deveal Fairley, 29, of George County, Mississippi.
• Zack Bexton, 30, of George County, Mississippi (arrested in Vancouver, Washington).

All suspects have been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

The suspects arrested in Mississippi appeared before United States Magistrate Judge John C. Gargiulo today in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Gulfport. Judge Gargiulo ordered all suspects to be held without bond pending detention hearings set for next week.

These arrests are the result of a two-year joint investigation into methamphetamine trafficking in Southeast Mississippi by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in Pascagoula, Mississippi; the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics; the George County Sheriff’s Office; the Lucedale Police Department; the South Mississippi Metro Enforcement Team; and Southeast Mississippi Narcotics Task Force.

The FBI Safe Streets Task Force is a Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative, and receives funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. It is made up of special agents from the FBI and law enforcement officers from the Pascagoula, Moss Point, Gautier, and Ocean Springs police departments; the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics; and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

These charges are merely an accusation, and all subjects are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.