Police seize £13m of drugs from Wakefield's streets during scheme targeting organised crime

Project ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery), which recently reached its two-year anniversary, is a programme designed to address drug addiction and tackle supply.

Police forces act on intelligence to disrupt the flow of drugs, while working with partners at a local level to divert vulnerable people into treatment and help them recover from their addiction.

The Wakefield Neighbourhood Impact Team, which covers the whole district, was established in October 2021, and as part of Project ADDER, they have:

• Executed 163 search warrants and conducted 228 stop searches.

• Seized £12.8 million worth of drugs, 36 vehicles and 109 weapons.

• Arrested 186 suspects with 29 sentenced at court to a total of 40 years imprisonment and other investigations ongoing.

• Issued 110 community resolutions for drug possession offences. The Drugs Divert Community Resolution Scheme allows officers to issue community resolutions for possession offences, enabling a health-based approach to dealing with drug users.

Superintendent Phil Jackson, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “Our Wakefield Neighbourhood Impact Team is working daily to build up intelligence from the local community and take action to remove harmful drugs, and those who profit from their supply, from our streets. The team has taken drugs with a street value of nearly £13million out of the supply chain. This is disrupting criminals who cause serious harm.

“While this action will have an impact on reducing drug use, and ultimately drug-related deaths, this is much wider than a police issue. To have a lasting impact, we need to work in partnership to understand the societal issues that lead to people getting involved in drug use, production and supply and ensure we have diversion programmes and quick and effective treatment services in place, which Project ADDER supports.”

Coun Maureen Cummings, Cabinet Member for Communities, Poverty and Health at Wakefield Council, said: “Project ADDER has been a great success in the Wakefield district, it has helped our communities to feel safer and has provided many residents with much needed support so they can go on to live a more independent life, free from crime and addiction.”

One such individual had a lengthy offending history linked to drug dependency.

He was released from prison in September 2021 and joined the Turning Point Inspiring Recovery programme funded through Project ADDER. He had regular drug treatment sessions with a key worker.

He was offered Buvidal, a long-acting medicine used to treat opioid dependence, which helped him to live a more independent life, he no longer had daily pharmacy visits and was in charge of his own recovery.

He has successfully been on Buvidal treatment for over six months and says he feels the ‘best he has in 20 years.’

“I feel like I have my life back and can think with a clear mind,” he said.

"Everyone says I've totally changed, back to normal.”

He is now focussing on rebuilding relationships with family and friends. He is in regular contact with his adult children and is proving to be a reliable father figure again.