Class A drugs believed to be worth tens of thousands of pounds were seized from a house – all after officers spotted a single drug deal.
Plain-clothed officers from Nottinghamshire Police’s Knife Crime Team witnessed the activity near the skate park in Barringer Road, Mansfield, shortly after 2pm yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.
A short time later the officers pulled over a car in Bath Lane, where a suspect was searched and found to be in possession of cannabis.
A later search at Mansfield Police Station revealed around 200 wraps of Class A drugs hidden in his underpants.
Police later searched an address in Almond Rise and found large quantities of what is believed to be crack cocaine and heroin.
Five weapons and cash were also found.
A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs and remains in police custody.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Knife Crime Team is a specialist resource to tackle violence and crime, remove dangerous weapons and drugs from the streets and keep people safe.
The team – which operates county-wide – was recently expanded thanks to its continued success.
Inspector Nick Butler, district commander for Mansfield, said: “This was a great bit of police work that led us to a significant haul of illegal drugs. Drug dealing causes a significant amount of harm in our community and often leads to increase in other types of crime. That’s why we focus so much catching the people involved and removing drugs from our streets.
“The Knife Crime Team consists of specially trained and equipped officers who have great experience in stopping and searching suspect vehicles. They work all across the county but will be seen on the streets of Mansfield a lot more in the weeks and months ahead as we continue our work to clamp down on drug related crime.
“In this instance we were responding to local concerns about illegal activity in the area and used plain clothed officers to take a closer look at what was happening. Just as we had hoped this operation led us not only to a single suspect, but also to a much larger supply of drugs.
“Tackling drug related crime is one of our three main community priorities, which are set by members of the public responding to our What Matters community surveys. If you are concerned about crime where you live please be sure to complete this survey. We will listen and we will take action of we can.”
If you are concerned about drug dealing in your community please call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
