Pubdate: Mon, 01 Dec 2014
Source: Swindon Advertiser (UK)
Copyright: 2014 Swindon Advertiser
Contact: http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/aboutus/contactus/
Website: http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4168
Author: Dominic Gilbert

POLICE RAIDS HIT SWINDON DRUG DEALERS WHERE IT HURTS

"WE have hit their criminality hard by hitting them in their pockets
as well."

Those were the words of Detective Inspector Paul Fisher after a series
of raids over the course of four hours on Saturday morning saw drug
networks in Swindon lose out on around ?70,000 in cash and product,
with eight suspects given a new bed behind bars and a number of
weapons taken off the streets.

Around 50 officers carried out eight warrants around the town from 9am
as part of a countywide operation which saw similar raids executed in
Melksham and Amesbury.

The focus was hard-hitting disruption of organised drug gangs in the
town and further afield, many from London seeking to exploit a new
marketplace.

By midday, eight out of 16 warrants secured by the dedicated crime
team had been carried out in Swindon.

Wads of cash totalling more than ?40,000, a variety of drugs with a
street value of around ?25,000, along with a taser, TS gas and an
imitation firearm, were hauled out.

Six teams of covert officers and marked vehicles worked in rotation,
with five positive warrants and eight arrests of men and women aged
between 16 and 45.

DI Paul Fisher, of the dedicated crime team at Wiltshire Police,
co-ordinated the operation after months of gathering
intelligence.

"This is about targeting the Class A drug supply and reacting to
community concerns around drugs and anti-social behaviour which
accompanies the use of drugs, but also the dangerous drugs networks
bringing the supplies of Class As into the town," he said.

"The intelligence that goes into this comes from the communities,
officers in the streets and technological means, and often our best
intelligence comes from neighbours.

"That is the key part of the parcel which over many days, weeks and
months we build up. A lot of the Class A drugs supply can be traced
back to London drugs networks, and that is a national situation. The
drug networks run on county lines into places like Swindon because it
is a market place for them. There is that business element, so it is
our job to find out how they are coming to our town.

"There are currently around 300 drug neworks in the Metropolitan area,
and over the last few years we have seen around 40 of those in Wiltshire.

"People will be able to see what is happening and that what they have
been telling us has a positive impact."

Sgt Scott Hargreaves, of the drug enforcement team, said warrants are
still outstanding and will be executed over the coming weeks.

"Today we had 16 warrants sworn out within Swindon," he
said.

"As a result of executing the first eight, five of those were
positive, leading to eight people being arrested, between the ages of
16 and 45.

"Those have been for various offences, including intent to supply
Class A drugs, intent to supply Class B drugs, possession of sec five
firearms, including a taser and TS gas, and posession of an imitation
firearm.

"From Swindon approximately ?45,000 in cash has been seized, along
with cocaine, heroin, amphetamine and cannabis, with a street value in
the region of ?25,000."

Sgt Hargreaves added that although 'high impact' days of action under
Operation Harness were visible in the community, this type of work
continues on a daily basis.

"These days of action are to support our day to day work, to provide
that reassurance to the community that we do listen to intelligence
received from them," he aid. "A lot of these warrants were the result
of good community intelligence, and it has been an excellent four hours 
work.

"The aim is to reduce the threat of harm and risk that the supply of
controlled drugs brings. We have got to hit them hard, and in four
hours we have taken a large amount of harmful drugs off the streets.
We have hit their criminality hard by hitting them in the pockets as
well.

"Equally, sec five firearms are just as harmful as drugs. This will
have an impact but the important thing is that we still do our day to
day jobs, and this sort of disruption to drugs networks will continue.

"We still have eight warrants left and over the next few weeks we will
be executing those. Just because we have had one successful day we are
not going to stop. It is so vital we have the support of communities,
and a lot of our intelligence is fed through from Crimestoppers."

After the yell of 'brace, brace' at the point of entry, nothing is
ever straightforward. During a raid of a flat on Bunce Road in
Stratton, the suspects either fled or attempted to destroy evidence
after spying officers on the CCTV system.

PC Hine led the raid and detained a 17-year-old male from the London
area.

"After the warrant was executed we detained a 17-year-old male under
the Misuse of Drugs Act," he said. "We are aware this gentleman knew
we were coming, purely because the sim card had been removed from his
phone and the phone had been wiped. He is a long way from home and is
suspected of being involved with a dangerous drugs network from London.

"On the TV when we entered we could see permission had been granted
for access to the CCTV at the front door, and one occupant has left
the property as a result. At some people's premises we have seen them
rig up their own CCTV systems, and it will automatically switch the
signal if there is movement outside the property.

"Users rely on Class A drugs and will make sure they get it, and this
is a business for some people and they will do what they can to
protect it."

Anyone with any information about drugs should contact Wiltshire
Police on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously if preferred, on 0800 555
111.
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MAP posted-by: Matt