[7/15/03]JACKSON A Vicksburg man was among those arrested Monday in a federal-state investigation into what authorities called a major drug-distributing organization, authorities said.

Ten men face federal charges as the two-year investigation that involved wiretaps culminates, said Edwin Worthington, special agent in charge of the FBI in Mississippi.

“This is a significant drug organization that has been and continues to be systematically dismantled,” said Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, who was among law enforcement officials from eight agencies at the press conference at FBI headquarters.

Federal prosecutors, including Southern District of Mississippi U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton, were also present.

“These are not the defendants you normally might see,” Lampton said. “These are defendants that can only be found through a lengthy undercover investigation.” All but two of the men charged were in their 30s or above.

Nicholas L. Bridges, 23, of Vicksburg, was the youngest charged. He was arrested in Vicksburg about 7 a.m., by a group that included federal and state agents, Pace said.

The others arrested Monday were Elvin L. Atlas, 44, Willie Renard Brown, 32, Ralph Burleigh, 41, Albert D. Coleman, 34, Derek Smith, 30, Kendrick T. Singleton, 25, and Eric Terron Truman, 33, all of Jackson, and Willie Funchess, 37, of Brookhaven.

The 10th, Maurice Martin, 25, of Jackson remained at large this morning, a spokesman said.

Charges listed in a federal grand jury indictment include distributing cocaine and marijuana and using a telephone in committing a federal crime.

The indictment against the 10 was issued and sealed April 22, but the arrests were delayed until Monday to allow the “first phase” of the investigation to continue, Worthington said.

“These are the first of many,” Worthington said. “Additional arrests will be made in the near future, some in Mississippi and some in other states.”

More than 10,000 telephone calls over 77 days were monitored, Lampton said, adding that to do so is “a very complex legal proceeding. You have to keep the courts informed” and “minimize recordings that are not actually linked to the investigation.”

“Over a two-year period, these subjects were responsible for the distribution and/or sale of over 12 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of approximately $6 million, and over 540 pounds of marijuana, with a street value of approximately $600,000,” an FBI press release said.

Officials also displayed some of the weapons, including rifles, shotguns and handguns, and some of the drugs that were seized in the arrests.

The operation has been shipping drugs from Mexico to Jackson for distribution in Mississippi, Worthington said.

It is primarily a Jackson operation, with “spillover effects into surrounding communities,” Pace said.

The Rankin and Hinds county sheriff departments and the Jackson Police Department were also involved in the operation, the FBI said.

If convicted of the charges against them, the defendants face prison terms of 10 years to life, the FBI added.

Those who were arrested were to make initial appearances in federal court this week, with trial dates to be set then, Lampton said. He said his office would make “a dedicated effort to deny (the defendants) bond,” keeping them jailed until any trial that they may have.

“This investigation exemplifies what can be accomplished when local, state and federal agencies work in concert with one another,” Pace said.