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01/06/2006
Police swoop in major drugs raid
Fourteen people have been arrested during a major police operation across the province on Thursday.
Around 120 officers, including representatives from the PSNI Crime Team, the drug squad and Tactical Support Unit, were involved in the search, codenamed 'Operation Sturge,' which was the biggest anti-drugs offensive carried out in the province in recent years.
It has been reported that twelve men and two women were arrested during the raids, which were carried out early this morning in Belfast, Ballymena, and County Tyrone.
However, the main focus of the search was on Ballymena, which has over 600 known heroin addicts.
It is understood that police met at 6am in Antrim and travelled to Ballymena, where they carried out searches at a number of addresses. They also targeted addresses in Belfast, and Sion Mills in County Tyrone.
Detective Inspector Mark Dennison from Ballymena CID, today said that the operation had been planned over a long period of time and was based on months of evidence gathering against those arrested.
He also said that police hoped that today's operation would have a significant impact on the supply market in the County Antrim town.
Over the past three-years, 60 people have been convicted for supplying class A drugs in the Ballymena area.
DI Dennison said: "Our job is to catch more of them, convict more of them and to treat more of them.
"It should be noted that Ballymena police have convicted almost 60 people in the last three years for supply of Class A drugs. As a result of the arrests today that figure could rise significantly. The operation today is not only about enforcement. Ballymena PSNI work with a range of statutory and voluntary agencies in the district."
A second phase of the operation is currently underway.
(EF/SP)
Around 120 officers, including representatives from the PSNI Crime Team, the drug squad and Tactical Support Unit, were involved in the search, codenamed 'Operation Sturge,' which was the biggest anti-drugs offensive carried out in the province in recent years.
It has been reported that twelve men and two women were arrested during the raids, which were carried out early this morning in Belfast, Ballymena, and County Tyrone.
However, the main focus of the search was on Ballymena, which has over 600 known heroin addicts.
It is understood that police met at 6am in Antrim and travelled to Ballymena, where they carried out searches at a number of addresses. They also targeted addresses in Belfast, and Sion Mills in County Tyrone.
Detective Inspector Mark Dennison from Ballymena CID, today said that the operation had been planned over a long period of time and was based on months of evidence gathering against those arrested.
He also said that police hoped that today's operation would have a significant impact on the supply market in the County Antrim town.
Over the past three-years, 60 people have been convicted for supplying class A drugs in the Ballymena area.
DI Dennison said: "Our job is to catch more of them, convict more of them and to treat more of them.
"It should be noted that Ballymena police have convicted almost 60 people in the last three years for supply of Class A drugs. As a result of the arrests today that figure could rise significantly. The operation today is not only about enforcement. Ballymena PSNI work with a range of statutory and voluntary agencies in the district."
A second phase of the operation is currently underway.
(EF/SP)
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