Two people were arrested and drugs and guns have been seized as more than 20 police officers took part in three simultaneous raids across Swindon this morning.
Warrants were executed at Inglesham Road in Penhill, Ferndale Road in North Star and Belle Vue Road in Old Town just after 8am on Thursday.
Two men from Swindon, aged 29 and 52, were arrested in Belle Vue Road in the raids on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs, possession of offensive weapons in a private place and possession of Class B drugs. A Rambo knife and set of nunchuks were found, as well as Class B and C drugs.
At Inglesham Road, no one was arrested but a drugs sniffer dog was sent in to search the property, as Police and Crime Commissioner Phillip Wilkinson and Chief Constable Kier Pritchard watched on.
A variety of weapons, including air rifles and air pistols, and Class A drugs suspected to be cocaine, were recovered.
An illegal knuckleduster was also found.
In Ferndale Road, the person of interest had left, with nothing found.
It is part of Operation Scorpion, a joint operation between five police forces in the South West targeting drug dealing.
Speaking at the scene, South Central Swindon Neighbourhood Inspector David Tippetts said: “Three addresses we’ve hit this morning, they’re not connected, but they’re all part of this same policing operation which is to target local lines and what people know as county lines – cross-border drugs supply.
“[It] is part of an operation for the South West policing family to target drugs supply, which has been orchestrated by organised crime groups and criminal gangs.
“This morning we’ve executed a drugs warrant here at this address to disrupt someone we’ve got intelligence in relation to the supply of Class A drugs.”
Officers swooped on 5 Inglesham Road believing it was connected to a local drugs operation, using a battering ram to break the door down.
Scores of police streamed into the property as neighbours reacted to the commotion and a crowd gathered, but soon re-emerged when they realised no one was home.
Around half an hour later, a police sniffer dog arrived to begin searching the property.
Insp Tippetts said Class A drugs have a “huge impact”, adding: “Users quite often commit inquisitive crimes such as burglary or theft offences to fund their habit, so it has a massive impact.
“Criminal gangs exploit children to run drugs for them, so not only does that impact the child but the family of the child, threats can be made against that child and the family once the child is involved.
“So from our perspective, we want to protect those vulnerable people, the users and the children that are involved.”
Insp Tippetts added: “Any information that is passed to us, either via Crimestoppers or directly to us, is treated with the upmost confidentiality, and we do react and respond to it.
“It might seem sometimes that it takes ages for something to happen, but we have to hit a certain threshold to obtain warrants, so any information that people have got related to drugs supply, whether it’s related to the protection of a child or a vulnerable person, then let us know and we’ll respond appropriately to it.”
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