Police claim successes in drugs war
A POLICE crackdown on illegal drugs has seen more than 400 arrests made in raids in the Bodmin, Wadebridge and Padstow areas during the past five years.
The vast majority were in the Bodmin area, where 345 people were detained by officers in the police's continuing war against drugs.
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Devon and Cornwall Police
There were 35 arrests in Wadebridge, 11 in Padstow and 4 in St Merryn.
Inspector Ian Drummond-Smith, who is in charge of local policing in the area, said the figures showed the police aimed to make Bodmin and Wadebridge a "hostile'' environment for drug dealers.
The figures, which have been obtained by the Cornish Guardian under a Freedom of Information request, show a detailed breakdown of the streets where the arrests were made.
In Bodmin, most arrests were made in the Victoria Square area – 23 – while 19 people were arrested in Fore Street, 15 in Hillside Park, 13 on Dennison Road, 10 on the Kinsman Estate, the same number on Wallace Road and 8 at Harmer Close.
The Bodmin figures also include arrests on the A30 near the town.
In Wadebridge, the highest number of arrests, five, were made in Dunveth Road.
Bodmin East Cornwall councillor Lance Kennedy, who is the portfolio holder for community safety and public protection at County Hall, and a former police officer, said the high number of arrests showed the police were taking a pro-active approach to illegal drug-taking and those who supply them.
"It's a fact that the higher the figure, the more successful the police have been in tackling the problem.
"They show that positive action is being taken,'' said Mr Kennedy. "These figures are testament to the police cracking down on criminal activity involving illegal drugs.''
Last week, police arrested two people from Bodmin after drugs were seized from a car travelling on the M5 near Cullompton.
Officers from the Road Crime Unit stopped a Citroen Picasso last Thursday evening and a substantial quntity of drugs were discovered.
A man aged 23 and a woman aged 33 were later released on police bail until April 23.
Mr Drummond-Smith said: "The high number of arrests demonstrates the commitment of Bodmin and Wadebridge police to tackling drugs, as best we can with our limited resources.
"The aim is to make Bodmin and Wadebridge a hostile place for drug dealers. This is demonstrated well by the arrests last Thursday,'' which the inspector said had stopped drugs reaching the streets of Bodmin and Cornwall.
"We always act on good information. I would encourage people to report drug dealers by calling 101 or crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555111.''
2 Comments
by josdave
Wednesday, February 22 2012, 7:23PM
“The war on drugs will never ever be won and the only way out is to legalise them. The supply and use could be controlled the Treasury would get revenue and the crime rate would drop. As for the users nobody forces it on them and if it shortens their lives they only have themselves to blame as the dangers are well enough publicised for them to know what they are getting in to.”
by shagrats
Wednesday, February 22 2012, 8:24AM
“If the aim of this is to lower drug use and sale of ilegal drugs within the population then this policy of criminalisation of petty drug users has been an abject failure. However if the aim of this policy is to increase the prision popuation and to increase police budgets then its been a great success. Well done there is nothing better for society than to have more police arrest more people and throw them in jail.
The war on drugs was lost along time ago, this is now nothing to do with the problem of drugs and more to do with politics. Personally if I had an employee working for me that had failed to meet any of his own targets for the last 40 years I would have sacked him 38 years ago.”