VINEGAR HILL — More than a dozen drug dealers used the Farragut Houses as a headquarters for their crack and heroin trade — making brazen deals in the lobbies, a nearby Chinese restaurant and even the playground, officials said.
The probe, which began in March of 2014 following resident complaints, involved more than 100 drug sales that took place in the public housing complex and ended in a raid last week that netted 14 suspects, including one who jumped out of a window in order to avoid police, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
The accused dealers even co-opted four apartments in the development for their trafficking operation, officials said. Some of the apartments were vacant and used as "stash locations" and for meeting customers.
Officials are continuing to investigate how the drug traffickers were able to take over the apartments, they said.
Police arrested Jaquan Moore aka "Pressure," Rashad Jackson aka "Shottie," Helena Jackson, Jasper Ferguson aka "Jay," Robert Brown aka "Black Jesus," Jamel Williams aka "Light," William Sherrod, James Suggs aka "Suge," Alvin Sommers, Joseph Hill, Andre Butts, Eulonda Davis, Warren Cook and Ernestine Johnson in the bust.
Suggs, who investigators believe supplied the majority of crack cocaine to the other drug dealers, jumped out a second-story window during the Friday raid but was nabbed by police when he landed.
He was taken to the hospital in stable condition and released into police custody shorty after, according to the Special Narcotics Prosecutor.
The suspects' ages range from 21 to 64, and the majority live in the Farragut Houses.
Moore, who allegedly dealt to customers in the lobby at Farragut, was charged with 28 sales — the most in the group — and Jackson was charged with around a dozen sales, officials said.
The investigation was prompted by residents' complaints to local police about gang-related violence in the complex, the special prosecutor said.
“Guns and drugs threaten the safety and security of too many of our city's public housing residents," Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan said in a statement. "The arrests we announce today shut down a major supplier of cocaine to gangs that traffic narcotics in Farragut Houses, and removed guns readily available to spawn violence and chaos in this community.”
Moore, Ferguson, both Jacksons, Brown, Sherrod and Williams are set to be arraigned on Jan. 27.
The other suspects were indicted on Friday and will return to court April 1.
