Officers target organised criminals during lockdown taking £350k worth of drugs off Derby streets

Officers in Derby have taken hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs off the streets of Derby during the lockdown period.

The south division intelligence team, run from its base at St Mary’s Wharf police station, tackles organised criminality in Derby, Erewash and south Derbyshire.

During the first lockdown a year ago in March, the force saw a serious drop in calls as people stayed home.

But the intelligence team and the pro-active and organised crime teams were not only working as normal – they were able to put even more resources into tackling organised criminality.

During the last 12 months, the teams have seized drugs worth £354,000 on the street from criminals, confiscated cash to the tune of £192,000 and recovered £29,000 worth of criminal property – either stolen from victims or brought with the proceeds of their crimes.

The teams have together pulled the plug on five County Lines drug-running operations and safeguarded 55 vulnerable people who were being abused by gangs to use their properties to sell drugs.

Many of those responsible are awaiting their day in court, however, those already dealt with have been handed a total of 75 years in prison.

DI Matt Croome, who leads the intelligence team, said: “Over the last year many things have changed – but one constant has been our determination to take dangerous criminal individuals off the streets of our county.

“These people are making money by selling drugs that destroy communities, tear families apart and, in the most tragic circumstances, kill. In order to sell these drugs, these criminals will often take over vulnerable peoples’ homes forcing them into dangerous situations with threats of serious violence.

“The results from the past year are a testament to the hard work of the teams and the dedication of those officers to take these people off the streets and make our communities safer.”

DS Kane Martin, who leads the south pro-active team, said: “Alongside the cash, drugs and property recovered we have also found two firearms and five taser devices.  

“We know that drug dealers and organised criminals will use serious violence in order to protect their illegal activities – clearly shown by the two guns and five tasers found in the past 12 months.

“Tragically, across the UK, we have seen the consequences of these type of weapons being on the streets.

“Our work is based on intelligence – with much of it coming from our communities and I would like to thank all those who have helped make our county safer by passing information to us.

“While this can be difficult, the information you provide could save a life.”

If you are concerned about criminal activity in your area the contact Derbyshire police using any of the below methods in confidence:

• Facebook– send us a private message to /DerbyshireConstabulary
• Twitter– direct message our contact centre on @DerPolContact
• Website– complete the online contact form derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us.
• Phone – call us on 101.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

We’re currently sharing the work we do across our varied communities as part of Operation Derbyshire.

Operation Derbyshire runs until the end of May. It will see officers and staff sharing with our communities the excellent work that is going on to tackle certain crime types in the county.

Operation Derbyshire will also highlight the work that we and our partners do to support victims and bring offenders to justice.

You can follow our work on social media by following #OpDerbyshire.