Police uncovered a stash of cocaine inside a house while trying to arrest someone wanted in connection with two violent incidents.
Officers from the Newark and Sherwood Operation Reacher team were tasked with carrying out an arrest attempt on a suspect linked to an assault and a street fight.
Both incidents took place in Newark a day apart, with the first resulting in a man sustaining multiple facial fractures after being repeatedly punched inside Club X in Newark’s Corn Exchange.
That assault happened at around 1.20 am on 15 July 2023, with a separate fight then taking place in the street in Castle Gate, Newark, at around 3am on 16 July, which resulted in multiple people sustaining facial injuries.
Following an investigation led by detectives from Newark’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a suspect was identified in connection to both offences, and Operation Reacher were deployed to carry out an arrest attempt in Robert Dukeson Avenue, Newark.
After attending the address at around 8am on Thursday (27 July), officers detained a suspect and then carried out a search of the premises, which led to bags of cocaine and cash being discovered inside.
Further searches of a car then led to more cash and a ‘burner style’ phone being recovered by police.
A 19-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and affray.
Inspector Charlotte Ellam, district commander for Newark and Sherwood, said: “We are pleased to have now arrested a suspect in connection with two violent incidents that took place in Newark town centre last month.
“Following extensive inquiries led by detectives from Newark CID, we were able to link a suspect to these offences and our Operation Reacher team was deployed for a successful arrest attempt.
“While doing this, officers identified evidence consistent with the supply of drugs and were able to seize quantities of cocaine and cash and arrest someone for drug dealing offences.
“This was a great example of multiple Nottinghamshire Police teams working together to follow up intelligence gathered to get a positive result, while also identifying other criminal offences in the process.
“There is simply no excuse for anyone to act in the violent manner demonstrated in these incidents, or for anyone to deal drugs in our communities, so we will always take action as a police force should we receive reports of this nature.
“Anyone who has any information relating to these incidents is asked to report it to the police by calling 101, or by contacting Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
