Raids result in 40 drugs arrests (From The Oxford Times)
When It Happens Panel Get involved: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting 'OXFORD NEWS' to 80360 or email
Raids result in 40 drugs arrests
12:10pm Monday 23rd April 2012 in Banbury By Sam McGregor, covering Bicester. Call me on 01869 250197
Sgt Matt Powell
Thousands of pounds of drugs have been taken off the streets of north Oxfordshire in a series of police raids.
A five-strong team of officers, lead by Sgt Matt Powell, has been waging war on criminals in Kidlington, Bicester and Banbury since January.
Operation Dragnet has seen more than 40 people arrested in connection with drugs, burglary and assault, in 12 raids.
As a result, 11 cannabis factories, eight in Banbury and three in Bicester, have been discovered, with 600 cannabis plants seized and destroyed in the past three months.
Four people have been charged with possession with intent to supply and attempted production of a class B drug.
One person is still on bail and four others were cautioned.
Drugs, including magic mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine tablets, with a combined street value of about £10,000, have been seized, along with about £4,000 in cash.
Sgt Powell issued a warning to anyone connected with crime that his team were on their tails, and urged the public to contact police about suspicious behaviour.
He said: “The Dragnet team has the flexibility to either go on the hunt for criminality, disrupting and detecting it proactively, or to respond to any emerging issues and intelligence as it is reported by the public.
“We want to encourage the communities of Cherwell to call in with any information about criminality in their neighbourhood, no matter how insignificant they think it is.
“Anyone involved in criminality, or even just on the fringes of it, needs to know that, with the public’s help, they will appear on our radar.
“We will then make it our business to disrupt their criminal activity and ensure that they feel the full weight of the law.”
The team also has a ‘top 10’ list of known criminals who may receive a visit from officers at any time of the day or night to check on them.
Supt Andy Boyd said: “The results this team has achieved since it began operating speak for themselves.
“Law-abiding people can rest assured that the Dragnet team have put us firmly on the front foot, confronting those who chose to live a life of criminality.
“The message is simple: if you chose to commit crime, you can expect to face disruption to your daily routine and regular trips to the police station.”
Comments(5)
cshaws
says...
2:02pm Mon 23 Apr 12
"The results this team has achieved since it began operating speak for themselves." - what results? - closing these gardens won't have made the slightest difference.
grasmith
says...
3:53pm Mon 23 Apr 12
e Regulate and Tax the cannabis market and find something better to do for sgt powell and his dragnet team...if he just kept them in the station he would save the taxpayer petrol money and court costs...sentences for cultivating cannabis are dropping ....mayoral candidates in london are calling for the police to stop chasing cannabis and get on with more serious work... Join Clear cannabis law reform ..a political party that promises an end to this madness
Rookwood
says...
5:01pm Mon 23 Apr 12
The failure of the government to legalise the use of some substances (i.e. those that are much safer than the legal drugs the government peddle) or even be prepared to have the debate, just forces the most vulnerable in our society to become part of the criminal drug subculture. Instead, we could legalise, tax and regulate. That we could do this at a much lower cost than the street dealer would put them out of business overnight. It's just madness. We could be world leaders in this but we choose to adhere to a US policy created by the racism and business interests of the 1930's.
SChorley
says...
8:34pm Mon 23 Apr 12
As the Lib/Dems say "The police are wasted on cannabis". Worse it cause mistrust of authorities like the Police. We must now talk of "nuisance\problem and non-nuisance\problem drug and alcohol use" and work with the people.
judyta_a says...
1:33pm Mon 23 Apr 12