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Police swoop in city's biggest-ever drugs bust
GARETH ROSE
HUNDREDS of police officers today swooped on homes of suspected drug dealers across Edinburgh as part of the biggest operation of its kind in the city.
The raids, which began at dawn, were aimed at smashing around 80 street dealers who supply heroin and crack cocaine to the homeless and vulnerable.
Around 200 officers were involved in the operation which targeted dozens of addresses in Granton, Oxgangs, Sighthill, Drylaw, Restalrig, Niddrie, Leith, Pilton, and the Old Town. Within the first two hours, 22 arrests were made and a "significant" amount of heroin and crack cocaine was recovered.
Officers said intelligence gathered in the run-up to the raids had highlighted the increasing challenge of crack cocaine in the Lothians. Detective Chief Inspector David Bullen, who led the operation, said today's raids had been in the planning for about a year.
He said: "The focus of the operation has been towards those who have been supplying heroin and crack cocaine to the most vulnerable, needy and homeless people. It's not the top tier of criminality but the levels below that.
"This will be the most officers we've used on an operation. We will be searching, detaining and arresting today.
"We are talking about our most active dealers who have been using existing networks of supply. There's a ready market out there for heroin and crack cocaine and they've been exploiting that."
The officers left Fettes police headquarters in a convoy of marked and unmarked vehicles, many dressed in full body armour, carrying sledgehammers and battering rams, and armed with warrants allowing them to break down the doors of suspected dealers.
One of the first addresses targeted this morning was in Potterrow. One unmarked vehicle pulled into a car park behind a block of flats at about 5.45am.
Five officers ran up to the second floor to watch the door. Seven more, part of a raid team, all dressed in body armour, silently followed. They lined up on the outside balcony of a one-bedroom flat containing two male suspects. The first noise was the rattle of the hydraulic door opening equipment loosening it from its hinges. The next was several loud bangs as a sledgehammer was used to force the door open and the shouts of "police" as the officers entered the flat.
Officers shouted "get down" as one of the occupants, who had a dog, confronted them. There was a struggle and he was restrained. Fifteen minutes later a man wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket was led down the stairwell to a waiting car by officers and driven to police custody.
At about 7.30am another team raided a ground-floor flat in Niddrie. They forced open a door where a young couple and their daughter were living. Before arresting either of the adult occupants officers had to wait at the home for someone to come and look after the child.
Detective Chief Superintendent Iain Livingstone spoke to officers in the canteen of Fettes police station at 5am this morning before they went out on raids.
He told them: "The big prize for us is taking out the street dealing community. We've been planning this for many months. Today is a matter of getting out there and arresting people we know we have evidence against.
"This is not a speculative exercise. We have judicial warrants, we will be going through doors. This morning is critical to us as a force and policing generally across Scotland. Work started almost a year ago. The standard of professionalism I've seen has been of the highest standard - the technical knowledge and commitment shown has been of the highest standard. Today we are going to go out and cash in on that professionalism."
Officers working on the operation, which has not been named, planned to use stations all over the force area to interview suspects arrested today. They were all then due to be brought back to St Leonard's Police Station, where they would spend the night before appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow.
It is hoped that targeting "low-level" dealers will lead to a fall in crimes such as theft, robbery, and burglary which are often committed to fund drug habits.
DCI Bullen, added: "We've been concentrating our efforts on Class A drugs, particularly on heroin and the emergence of crack cocaine. In the past we have targeted specific areas of the city. This time the operation is focused on individuals, so the raids will be taking place all over the city. But we will be concentrating on the centre of town.
"At the bottom end of the drugs market it's the user and first and second tiers of supply that will be targeted here. By taking out these individuals we will hopefully be reducing other forms of crime.
"Although this operation is looking at the middle and lower kind of dealer the focus will always be on the top-tier of criminality. Hopefully, this operation today will provide intelligence to tackle that."
Tom Wood, chairman of Edinburgh Drugs and Alcohol team, said the raids had highlighted Edinburgh's increasing battle against crack cocaine. He said: "The interesting thing and the challenging thing about this is the presence of crack cocaine - the inevitable consequence of the amount of cocaine that's been coming into Scotland and the UK over the last five years.
"Where there's cocaine eventually, to a lesser extent, you'll have crack cocaine. That means new challenges in the enforcement treatment and rehabilitation. We've got to match this by aiming more services towards cocaine and the mix of cocaine and alcohol.
"I predict over the next five years within Edinburgh and the east of Scotland we will very much be talking about cocaine as well as heroin."
City leader Councillor Ewan Aitken said the rise of crack cocaine was "particularly worrying". He said: "Edinburgh is a highly successful city but that can hide the challenges faced by the most vulnerable. We need to collectively work out how to deal with these drugs."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=395582007
Last updated: 13-Mar-07 13:48 GMT
GARETH ROSE
HUNDREDS of police officers today swooped on homes of suspected drug dealers across Edinburgh as part of the biggest operation of its kind in the city.
The raids, which began at dawn, were aimed at smashing around 80 street dealers who supply heroin and crack cocaine to the homeless and vulnerable.
Around 200 officers were involved in the operation which targeted dozens of addresses in Granton, Oxgangs, Sighthill, Drylaw, Restalrig, Niddrie, Leith, Pilton, and the Old Town. Within the first two hours, 22 arrests were made and a "significant" amount of heroin and crack cocaine was recovered.
Officers said intelligence gathered in the run-up to the raids had highlighted the increasing challenge of crack cocaine in the Lothians. Detective Chief Inspector David Bullen, who led the operation, said today's raids had been in the planning for about a year.
He said: "The focus of the operation has been towards those who have been supplying heroin and crack cocaine to the most vulnerable, needy and homeless people. It's not the top tier of criminality but the levels below that.
"This will be the most officers we've used on an operation. We will be searching, detaining and arresting today.
"We are talking about our most active dealers who have been using existing networks of supply. There's a ready market out there for heroin and crack cocaine and they've been exploiting that."
The officers left Fettes police headquarters in a convoy of marked and unmarked vehicles, many dressed in full body armour, carrying sledgehammers and battering rams, and armed with warrants allowing them to break down the doors of suspected dealers.
One of the first addresses targeted this morning was in Potterrow. One unmarked vehicle pulled into a car park behind a block of flats at about 5.45am.
Five officers ran up to the second floor to watch the door. Seven more, part of a raid team, all dressed in body armour, silently followed. They lined up on the outside balcony of a one-bedroom flat containing two male suspects. The first noise was the rattle of the hydraulic door opening equipment loosening it from its hinges. The next was several loud bangs as a sledgehammer was used to force the door open and the shouts of "police" as the officers entered the flat.
Officers shouted "get down" as one of the occupants, who had a dog, confronted them. There was a struggle and he was restrained. Fifteen minutes later a man wearing blue jeans and a black leather jacket was led down the stairwell to a waiting car by officers and driven to police custody.
At about 7.30am another team raided a ground-floor flat in Niddrie. They forced open a door where a young couple and their daughter were living. Before arresting either of the adult occupants officers had to wait at the home for someone to come and look after the child.
Detective Chief Superintendent Iain Livingstone spoke to officers in the canteen of Fettes police station at 5am this morning before they went out on raids.
He told them: "The big prize for us is taking out the street dealing community. We've been planning this for many months. Today is a matter of getting out there and arresting people we know we have evidence against.
"This is not a speculative exercise. We have judicial warrants, we will be going through doors. This morning is critical to us as a force and policing generally across Scotland. Work started almost a year ago. The standard of professionalism I've seen has been of the highest standard - the technical knowledge and commitment shown has been of the highest standard. Today we are going to go out and cash in on that professionalism."
Officers working on the operation, which has not been named, planned to use stations all over the force area to interview suspects arrested today. They were all then due to be brought back to St Leonard's Police Station, where they would spend the night before appearing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court tomorrow.
It is hoped that targeting "low-level" dealers will lead to a fall in crimes such as theft, robbery, and burglary which are often committed to fund drug habits.
DCI Bullen, added: "We've been concentrating our efforts on Class A drugs, particularly on heroin and the emergence of crack cocaine. In the past we have targeted specific areas of the city. This time the operation is focused on individuals, so the raids will be taking place all over the city. But we will be concentrating on the centre of town.
"At the bottom end of the drugs market it's the user and first and second tiers of supply that will be targeted here. By taking out these individuals we will hopefully be reducing other forms of crime.
"Although this operation is looking at the middle and lower kind of dealer the focus will always be on the top-tier of criminality. Hopefully, this operation today will provide intelligence to tackle that."
Tom Wood, chairman of Edinburgh Drugs and Alcohol team, said the raids had highlighted Edinburgh's increasing battle against crack cocaine. He said: "The interesting thing and the challenging thing about this is the presence of crack cocaine - the inevitable consequence of the amount of cocaine that's been coming into Scotland and the UK over the last five years.
"Where there's cocaine eventually, to a lesser extent, you'll have crack cocaine. That means new challenges in the enforcement treatment and rehabilitation. We've got to match this by aiming more services towards cocaine and the mix of cocaine and alcohol.
"I predict over the next five years within Edinburgh and the east of Scotland we will very much be talking about cocaine as well as heroin."
City leader Councillor Ewan Aitken said the rise of crack cocaine was "particularly worrying". He said: "Edinburgh is a highly successful city but that can hide the challenges faced by the most vulnerable. We need to collectively work out how to deal with these drugs."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=395582007
Last updated: 13-Mar-07 13:48 GMT
