Sophisticated, protective and dangerous, a North Side organization trafficked in drugs and eluded police for more than a decade until this week, authorities said yesterday.

A 147-count federal indictment details the activities of the Brittany Hills Posse, named after the neighborhood east of North Linden where it was based.

Teams of federal, state and local law-enforcement agents began arresting people yesterday in what they called "Operation Georgia Peach" because cocaine and other drugs were shuttled between Ohio and the South.

By last night, 21 of 29 suspects were in custody, but the kingpin of the organization, Maurice Williams, 33, was still at large. Williams lived in Columbus and in Decatur, Ga., authorities said.

Williams, known as "Papa Joe," is charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise and could be sentenced to 20 years to life in prison if convicted.

The indictment includes drug-trafficking and firearms charges and says that a house at 1485 E. 23rd Ave. was used to distribute drugs.

The defendants, a mix of men and women in their late 20s and 30s, will be in the custody of U.S. marshals and will be held in the Franklin County jail until they have initial court appearances, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Columbus Police Cmdr. Jeffrey Blackwell has known about the group for more than 10 years and considered it a scourge on the North Side.

"It's been known as being untouchable," he said, and has eluded infiltration and capture by being sophisticated, untrusting of outsiders and dangerous.

"We think that, in Columbus at least, the violence brought by these individuals will be decimated" by the arrests, Blackwell said.

The investigation lasted more than a year and involved officers and agents from Franklin and Delaware counties, the FBI, Columbus police and the Ohio attorney general's office.



Illseed of AllHipHop sent this over to me:


[[XXXXX A MATHAF**KIN SNITCH CUZZ. THIS n***a XXXXX SNITCHED ON THE WHOLE BRITTANY HILLS POSSE IN COLUMBUS OHIO AND HE GOT NI**AZ LOCKED UP TO GET OUT OF JAIL. HE WAS SUPPOSSED TO GET A YEAR BUT WHAT HAPPEND, THE N**A GOT OUT EARLY. NI**AS TALKIN BOUT TI, THIS NI**A THE REAL SNITCH. GOT MY NI**A POPPA JOE LOCKED UP FROM COLUMBUS. XXXXX A B***H CUZZ]]



I must admit, I don’t know what this is referring to, but I will say this. The rapper they are accusing of snitching is presently in jail. Also, Maurice Lamont Williams aka “Papa Joe” is not in jail at all. He’s on the lam. Papa Joe is the suspect ring leader of Operation Peach, which apparently goes from Columbus, Ohio-to-Atlanta, Ga. And this is where the rapper comes in. I can’t say the name of the rapper, but its not hard to figure out and he is one of the biggest right now. So, in the streets, they are saying that this rapper told on the gang and got 28 out of 31 members arrested.

H