Andy Munns
More than £100,000 worth of drugs and almost £80,000 cash was seized in Wiltshire in a week-long series of raids.
Huge quantities of crack cocaine, as well as cocaine, heroin and cannabis, plus weapons including firearms, a Samurai sword, machete and knuckleduster, were also recovered in the latest phase of Operation Scorpion – an initiative involving the South West’s five police forces.
In Wiltshire, there were:
- 10 arrests
- £103,000 worth of drugs seized
- £79,475 cash seized
- 5 weapons seized, including two firearms, plus an e-bike and £230,000 worth of clothes and watches
- 18 cuckooed addresses visited
During the seven days of operations from June 10th to June 16th, police teams targeted gangs and addresses of suspected drug dealers and suppliers, stepped up patrols of known hotspots, and used technology to disrupt county-wide activities.
Wiltshire Police Detective Chief Inspector Megan Elkins said: “Operation Scorpion allows us to work together with colleagues from across the South West to ensure the region is no place for drugs.
“Through excellent proactive work, featuring a number of specialist teams across the Force, we were able to execute a series of warrants across the county, resulting in substantial amounts of drugs, cash and jewellery being seized.
“These are excellent results and mean that a significant amount of drugs have been removed from our streets, as well as disrupting these organised networks which bring so much misery to our communities.
“Our work doesn’t end here as we will continue our efforts to investigate those arrested, take more drugs off our streets, share intelligence and protect the vulnerable.
“We also need the public to continue to report whenever they suspect drug dealing, so we can build up our intelligence picture to allow officers to focus first on where the problem is worst.”
South West regional drugs intensification weeks are a collaboration between the five police forces in the South West region – Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, Avon & Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The region’s five Police and Crime Commissioners, the British Transport Police, South West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the independent charity Crimestoppers are also combining their resources to tackle drug supply in the region and make the South West a hostile environment for those who deal drugs and engage in anti-social drug taking activity.
