NATCHEZ — State and local agencies arrested 12 men across Adams County Monday on a host of drug related charges, and four more are wanted by the sheriff’s office.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office was still searching Tuesday afternoon for Roderick Brady, Marcus McDonald, Venita Felter Mulvhill and Carlos Roricus Smith in connection with various drug crimes.

Early Monday morning, the Adams County Sheriff’s Special Operations Group and the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics began locating and arresting suspected drug dealers, handlers and suppliers, the sheriff’s office reported Tuesday.

The report said residents in Adams County residents submit complaints about certain areas of town, including at local hotels and the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Street and St. Catherine Street, on a “regular basis.”

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said in the report that his officers have targeted these areas where residents report drug deals and have made a “concentrated effort” to make undercover buys from dealers in these locations.

“It creates a bad image and a danger to the public when people just want to get something to eat, go into a store, get gas, get their hair cut, or try to get a hotel room after a long days’ work but instead have to witness drug dealers and drug users trying to take over an area,” Patten said.

Patten said his deputies also assisted the bureau of narcotics in the arrest of three people — Aronica Dukes, Timothy Dukes and Lazienda Turner — on charges of prescription forgery and sale of prescription medication cases. Those sales, Patten said, stretched into Franklin County, where the three arrestees were transported.

“I just want people to know that we are actively trying to take actions … on every level, from the dealer on the corner to the distributor that is bringing the drug in from a source area,” Patten said.

When asked if these arrests were made in connection to the warrant execution on six locations on March 2, Patten said he could not comment.

That March 2 operation drew several federal, state and local agencies — including the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Bureau of Investigations and the Mississippi Highway Patrol — to execute warrants in relation to an investigation.

More arrests, he said, should be coming soon.

Along with the three people sent to Franklin County, the sheriff’s deputies arrested:

• Joseph Anderson, 32, 13 South Sunflower Road, on two charges of possession of a controlled substance. Released on a bond set at $30,000.
• Devin Jamal Collins, 35, 704 N. Pearl St., on two charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell. Released on a bond set at $25,000.
• Givonni Dionante Dent, 24, 52 Dennis Road, on a charge of sale of a schedule I controlled substance. Released on a bond of $10,000.
• Louis Shelby Johnson, 24, 52 Dennis Road, on a charge of sale of a schedule I drug (marijuana). Released on a bond of $5,000. 
• Henson Armond Lewis, 39, 100 Woodville Drive, on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. Held without bond.
• James Edward Marsaw, 31, B Graves Ave., on a charge of sale of a controlled schedule II substance. Released on a bond of $25,000.
• Christopher Peavy, 22, 137 Lewis Drive,on a charge of possession of a controlled substance. Held on a bond set at $25,000.
• Bridges Emanuel Shannon, 46, 424 Morgantown Road, on two charges of sale of a controlled substance. Held without bond. 
• Riley Jerome Trask, 32, 204-A Watts Ave., on a charge of sale of a schedule IV controlled substance. Released on a bond of $45,000.

“We’re trying to rid this community of anybody who wants to make dealing their profession,” Patten said. “And we’re not done yet.”