Police picked up three individuals on drug trafficking and firearms charges in the wee hours of Friday morning, St. Croix Police Chief Chris Howell said Friday at a press conference on the department’s new mobile Special Operations Unit van.

Levar "Bogsy" Pugson, 25, of D. Hamilton Jackson Terrace, Dwayne "DMX" Woodrup, 28, of JFK Housing Community and Roy "Uncle Roy" Henry Jr., 28 of Estate Richmond, were each charged with unauthorized possession of a firearm and possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Each was held on $35,000 bail.

After several months of investigation, police secured search warrants Wednesday for several locations, Howell said. Officers conducted surveillance, and at 1 a.m. Friday, they exercised the first search warrant.

"We hit a home run the first try — the three primary suspects were in the home," Howell said. All three were arrested in an apartment in JFK Housing Community.

Police recovered three firearms, a quantity of marijuana and cash during the raid, Howell said.

There were some tense moments in the raid, Police Commissioner Novelle Francis said at the press conference.

"During the situation this morning, an individual had a firearm in his hand and would not put it down. If not for the calmness and patience of the officers, it could have been a tragic situation, but after some talking, the officers were fortunately able to persuade the individual to put down the firearm," Francis said.

"I hope those officers are in bed now, they’ve had a long night," he said.