Wakefield police seize £7m worth of drugs during 18-month scheme targeting organised crime

A police chief described how a small team of officers funded by the government-back project have made ‘criminals’ lives a misery’ during the past 18 months.

The figures were revealed as members of Wakefield Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board were given an update on Project ADDER.

Wakefield is just one of 13 local authority areas in the country taking part in ADDER (Addiction, Diversion, Disruption, Enforcement and Recovery).

The joint Home Office and Department of Health scheme was set up to break the cycle of drug addiction and help rid the streets of dealing and narcotics abuse.

Chief Supt Richard Close, of Wakefield District Police, said a neighbourhood impact team have been responsible for taking around £7m of drugs, mainly cannabis, off the district’s streets.

The team was also responsible for seizing at least £350,000 in cash over the same period.

Around 400 arrests have been made and 200 stop searches have been carried out.

The work has resulted in 200 in charges being brought against offenders.

Five firearms have also been recovered across the district.

Chief Supt Close told the meeting: “This is just a small team of officers who just love making criminals’ lives a misery.

“They have recovered £7m worth of drugs in 18 months. That is a lot of cannabis.

“That is whole households. That is factories full of cannabis from top to bottom.

“It is one of the easiest commodities to manufacture. You can find out online how to grow it,” he said.

“You can do it on a massive scale and the market is absolutely there.”

Describing the work of the impact team, the senior officer said: “They have always got a smile on their faces because they are always disrupting criminality.

“They are doing an outstanding job. Nothing seems to phase them. They are probably going to be our next detectives.”

Chief Supt Close said a second group of officers, the Precision team, focus on covert operations targeting organised crime groups in the district.

“Their work includes disrupting county lines drug gangs.

“They are absolutely working their way through organised crime in Wakefield.

“The problem with having two small teams is that we only have the opportunity to tackle two or three organised crime groups at any one time.

“Anyone who knows anything about crime will tell you there are more than just these organised crime groups.

“At this moment in time there are 62 people wanted for different offences in Wakefield.

“Around 30 of those are wanted for drugs offences.

“That is somebody who at some stage we have had our hands on but we have had to bail for one reason or another.

“I would suggest a good proportion of those are foreign nationals who we may never see again, or we might one day in the future.”

Chief Supt Close said intelligence indicates that the main drug ‘hotspots’ in the district are to the north and east of the city of Wakefield as well as South Elmsall and South Kirkby.

Describing the ongoing battle to tackle drugs in the district, the senior officer said: “I will never be out of a job. In another seven or eight years’ time, I might retire. But I guarantee you that drugs will still be an issue in Wakefield.

“It will still be an issue nationally unless we work together, with a public health approach, to try to reduce that supply, or there will always be someone else who steps into the breach.

“Wakefield is still a really, really safe place to live.

“But there is an underlying issue in Wakefield. It is very similar to other areas of West Yorkshire.

“But the only way we can combat it is through shared intelligence.”

Through the use of drug testing on arrest, police have been able to break up gangs and divert users into treatment, helping to dismantle the cycle of dependency and support users to turn their lives around.

Jez Mitchell, public health principal for Wakefield Council, said the project also aims to increase the number of drug users engaging in treatment.

It is also designed to increase the number of people achieving and sustaining recovery as well as helping people moving into paid employment.

It is hoped longer term benefits will include reduced costs for local health services, police forces and criminal justice system.< Drug-related deaths in the Wakefield district are almost twice the national average. Hospital admissions due to drug poisoning are higher than average. Prevalence of opiate and crack use (OCU) and alcohol dependence is higher than the national average. Figures also show that around 45 per cent of OCUs are not engaging in treatment. There are also lower than average numbers of opiate users released from prison engaging in treatment.