Seventeen indictments have been issued as a result of a large drug bust in Westmoreland in the Colonial Beach and the Oak Grove areas of the county. It involved 100 officers in a task force which had been in operation for the past four months.

That operation which culminated in the arrests, started Thursday morning at approximately 2:00 a.m. and involved officers from NCIS, King George, Westmoreland, Caroline, the State Police, FBI, Department of Corrections, ABC enforcement, Colonial Beach police, the state aviation med-flight helicopter, and staff from the regional jail, among other units. Arrests involved felonies and misdemeanors for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, possession of prescription drugs and marijuana.

By 4:00 p.m. 15 people had been arrested and processed. Names were to be announced shortly, according to officers in the Westmoreland Sheriff’s office.

From The Free Lance-Star: Man, 19, held in slaying:

A man wanted for a Jan. 12 slaying at a Fredericksburg nightspot was captured early yesterday in Westmoreland County.

Brandon Lee Smith, 19, was taken into custody without incident shortly before 2 a.m. at a home just outside Colonial Beach, police said.

Smith is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 30-year-old Dasan Ka’Wila Richardson.

Richardson was working as a bouncer at Mi Casa Restaurant in Central Park when he was shot twice in the chest with a .45-caliber gun during an altercation involving Smith and others, police said.

Fredericksburg police quickly identified and charged Smith in the slaying, but were unable to find him until yesterday.

Police said that Smith, also known as “BeBe,” is a member of the gang “Pound Property,” a gang which operates primarily in Colonial Beach, King George and Westmoreland.

Details regarding what led to Smith’s apprehension were sketchy yesterday, but city Lt. Eddie Delano said the key tip regarding Smith’s whereabouts was received by the Colonial Beach Police Department.

I guess some of your boys aren’t too happy with you.

Beach police and Westmoreland deputies later went to the house and surrounded the residence. Smith walked out and gave himself up.

He was later turned over to Fredericksburg detectives and is being held without bond in the Rappahannock Regional Jail.

According to police, Richardson was working for a promoter who had rented Mi Casa for a “hip-hop” event.

Shortly after 1 a.m. that morning, Smith was forcibly removed from the building because he is underage and because event sponsors recognized him as someone who had caused problems at prior events.

Court records state that Smith returned five to seven minutes later with several other associates and got into a fight with bouncers.

Richardson was shot at point-blank range.

Smith also has drug trials pending next month in Fredericksburg Circuit Court.