Commander of the Bessemer Police Vice Narcotics Unit Lt. Mike Wood said by late afternoon 21 suspects had been arrested in operation Street Storm which targeted street level drug dealers.
"These are the people that are standing out there causing mayhem in the neighborhood. So by taking them off the streets you put the neighborhood at a little more ease and that's what we were hoping to accomplish today," said Lt. Mike Wood. "This is the largest roundup we've done this year."
Bessemer PD had backup from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Hueytown Police Department, the Pleasant Grove Police Department, and the DEA.
"We started with serving search warrants. After that we sent out arrest teams to try to round up 32 individuals that sold to undercover officers. Out of those 32 individuals 84 indictments were delivered on them for unlawful distribution of a controlled substance," said Lt. Mike Wood.
However, he says operation Street Storm doesn't stop at the first eighty four indictments. "From them we hope to move it up the chain and get to the bigger people," Lt. Wood.
The Bessemer Police Chief says it sends a message to drug dealers in the city.
"We need them to know that we are here, we're going to stay here, and we're going to keep coming out and cutting off the head of the snake right where it slithers," said Chief Nathaniel Rutledge Jr.
