Police crack-down on ‘unacceptable’ drug use in Mansfield sees several arrests and raids across town

Officers from the Mansfield neighbourhood team recovered an array of Class A and Class B drugs as they raided numerous properties across the district.

They also visited several other people to warn them about the anti-social nature of their cannabis use, and spoke to dozens of other local residents to reassure and them and gather additional intelligence.

In total eight properties were raided and six people arrested. They included addresses in Westdale Road, Burns Street and Danvers Street.

Inspector Nick Butler, responsible for policing in the Mansfield district, said: “Drug dealing and other drug related crime are a genuine blight on our communities. The associated violence and antisocial behaviour that comes with it causes considerable distress for residents, and the trade itself causes significant harm to often vulnerable people who are exploited by criminal gangs.

“Indeed, behind every drug deal can be a story of harm and human exploitation – of teenagers coerced into carrying and storing drugs for organised crime gangs, and even of vulnerable people whose homes are taken over by local drug dealers.

“That’s why we take drug use and drug dealing so seriously. We simply will not allow people to deal drugs in our communities, nor will we turn a blind eye to people who regularly subject their neighbours the pungent smell of cannabis smoke.

“We have heard, for example, from people who feel unable to use their own gardens, and even from parents whose children who are struggling to get to sleep because the smell of cannabis wafting into their bedrooms. These situations are clearly unacceptable and we won’t tolerate them.”

As well as gaining search warrants to raid certain properties, officers also visited or delivered warning letters to other addresses where heavy cannabis use had been reported.

Sergeant Neil Priestly added: “Before we can carry out a drugs raid we need to get a warrant issued by a court. Where we had received multiple reports of cannabis use but didn’t have the weight of evidence to take that step we knocked on doors to warn people in person to warn them about their future conduct.”

Police in Mansfield have vowed to keep up the pressure on drug-related crime in the weeks and months ahead, and will soon be joined by additional officers from Operation Reacher – a county-wide initiative to target people involved in organised and drug-related crime.

Inspector Butler added: “All in all this has been a very successful operation, both in terms of the amount of drugs recovered and the number of people arrested. But above all I hope it sends a very clear message to people who are dealing or misusing drugs in our community: we know who you are and could very well be paying you a visit in the near future.”

If you have any concerns about drug dealing or drug use in your community you can report it to police directly on 101 or via Crimestoppers in confidence.

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