MORE than 7,000 cars were checked by Wiltshire Police and three drugs warrants executed yesterday as part of Operation Harness.

The day of action saw officers tackling dangerous drugs networks by a number of means.

Three drugs warrants were executed in Swindon and more than £2,000 worth of class A drugs were recovered from an address in the town centre with a similar amount of cash recovered.

Officers also visited people identified as at risk of criminal exploitation by London based drugs gangs in Swindon and Salisbury.

Wiltshire Police's approach towards tackling drug dealing includes identifying and proactively safeguarding vulnerable drug users.

It is their premises which are likely to be used by dealers, who are arrested, charged and convicted.

Police also seek to disrup gang activities and work in partnership with local authority community safety partnerships and registered social landlords to deter gangs using the homes of vulnerable people.

Operation Harness saw officers visit those people who are potentially being criminally exploited and identifying to them what support is available as well as educating them on the potential consequences of harbouring drug dealers.

As well as this, an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) operation was run on the M4, with officers targeting vehicles involved in dangerous drugs networks and other general criminality.

Officers had about 150 positive readings from the 7,000 vehicles read.

Detective Inspector Paul Fisher, who led the day of action, said: “This day of action was designed to target travelling drugs gangs in Swindon and Salisbury as well as to reassure the members of the local communities who are affected by these crimes.

"Much of our intelligence comes from within the community and I urge the public to contact the police centrally or their local officers if they have any concerns about drug activity in their neighbourhood. Tenants can also share such concerns with their local authority landlord or their housing association.”

The day of action also saw officers visiting members of the public who have been victims of high value online criminality, often from overseas offenders, to gather intelligence and offer online security advice.

Detective Constable Angela Spray, who leads on cyber crime prevention for Wiltshire Police said: "It is vital that everybody does as much as they can to protect themselves from becoming a victim of cyber crime.

"Yesterday's day of action was vital for us to visit those people who have fallen victim to this type of crime, and offer security advice to prevent it from happening again.

"There are several simple steps to making sure you are safe online, you can visit www.cyberstreetwise.com for general computer safety tips."

Wiltshire Police also has a dedicated cyber safety page on Facebook - search CyberBee WiseWilts. Also follow us on Twitter @CyberBeeWiseWP for up to date information on current threats and how to protect yourself from them.

Operation Harness is a long-term collaborative operation designed to incorporate on-going initiatives focusing on different elements of policing.

These elements will include warrants executed based on community-led intelligence and other areas of policing such as night time economy, anti-social behaviour and traffic issues.

The operation encompasses the whole of Wiltshire Police – involving officers and staff from across the organisation, Chief Constable Pat Geenty and Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire Angus Macpherson.

It also involves working alongside several partnership agencies including local councils, the Swindon Community Safety Partnership, Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership, housing associations, charities and community groups.

For more information on Operation Harness, log onto www.wiltshire.police.uk and follow the Op Harness link. Members of the public can also follow the results from Op Harness by visiting the Wiltshire Police Facebook - www.facebook.com/wiltshirepolice - and follow the Twitter address @wiltshirepolice.