Posted on Fri, May. 09, 2008

GULFPORT -- A multi-agency "buy-bust" operation that targeted street-level crack cocaine dealers in Gulfport has put 22 people behind bars.

Police Chief Alan Weatherford said several of the suspects were wanted on other felony warrants, some were out of jail on bond for other offenses, and many of them are considered "repeat offenders."

Timothy Nunn, for instance, has been living in the community under state supervision on a 12-year suspended sentence for drug-related convictions, Weatherford said. Nunn, 22, is among those arrested in the "buy-bust" operation, which uses undercover officers to buy drugs from suspected dealers.

Weatherford said it serves as a warning that law enforcement has its eye on "problematic pockets located throughout the city."

Assisting in the operation were Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agents and Harrison County sheriff's narcotics officers.

The Sun Herald identifies those arrested in an updated story in Saturday's editions.