Oct. 21, 2005 – Federal agents arrested 11 men on drag trafficking charges in Savan, alleging they ran a brazen drug market in the Charlotte Amalie neighborhood.
Dubbed "Operation Red Ball," federal and local police arrested the men two weeks ago but did not immediately announce the arrests because four men are still wanted, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Carroll.
"Operation Red Ball is an investigation into the open-air drug market in the streets of the Savan area," said U.S. Attorney Anthony Jenkins in a press release. "As a direct result of this investigation and these law enforcement operations, there has been a drastic reduction in the number of blatant drug deals in the streets of the Savan area of downtown St. Thomas."
The Savan neighborhood is just a few hundred yards from Charlotte Amalie's busy tourist district.
Gelean Mark, 32, Vernon Elvis Fagan, 35, Alexci Patrico Emmanuel, 23, Tyron Alexander, 30, Andrew Cooley Williams, 46, Royd Kevin Thompson, 29, Tyron Alexander Prince, 30, Keith Francois and Bertram Leon Boodoo were charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana in an 18 count indictment, Carroll said.
Thi Huu Vu and Nhung Thi Ngoc Phung were charged with conspiracy with intent to distribute cocaine and crack cocaine.
David Hunter Long was charged with simple possession of cocaine and crack cocaine.
All are U.S. citizens and live in St. Thomas. Vu and Phung are naturalized U.S. citizens of Vietnamese ancestry.
Each man pleaded innocent in District Court on Wednesday, Carroll said. It was not immediately clear when their next court appearance would be.

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