Several dozen law enforcement officers surrounded a Strip District night club early yesterday morning and arrested nine people, including a "very dangerous" suspected drug dealer with a long criminal history.

The task force, which included Pittsburgh police and federal agents, had been targeting Marzell "Wu Tang" Turner. Last year, police apprehended him in the Hill District and found him carrying 115 grams of heroin.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh indicted Mr. Turner, 25, on a charge of possession of heroin with intent to distribute. The potential penalty is a minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years in prison, according to Margaret Philbin, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

City police this week received a tip that Mr. Turner would be attending a performance by rapper Gucci Mane at the Krobar Lounge on Smallman Street in the Strip District, police Chief Nate Harper said.

About 41 officers were involved in the operation. They took Mr. Turner into custody as he was leaving the club around 1:30 a.m. He offered no resistance. He was carrying $5,000 in cash, Chief Harper said.

Officers also arrested eight other people who were wanted or who were in possession of drugs.

Mr. Turner twice has faced homicide charges, but he has never been convicted.

In 2005, Mr. Turner was connected to the fatal shooting of Kevin Somerville, 23, of Wilkinsburg, who was gunned down in a car the year before as a 5-year-old boy sat in the back seat.

After discussions with investigators and Mr. Somerville's relatives, the district attorney's office decided not to prosecute Mr. Turner and another Hill District man, Eurie Nunley.

In November 2006, Mr. Turner was arrested in connection with the death of 29-year-old Richard Hampton, who was shot on a Downtown street. A 24-year-old woman was also shot in the leg.

The charges against Mr. Turner later were dropped after a key witness recanted, police said.

On March 29 of last year, police Sgt. Larry Scirotto and several officers saw Mr. Turner throw away a large amount of heroin as he tried to run from them in the Hill District. The heroin had a street value of $132,000.

During a news conference yesterday, Sgt. Scirotto, of the city's Street Response Unit, described Mr. Turner as "highly dangerous" because of his past.

Mr. Turner is scheduled for a detention hearing in federal court on Sept. 2.