TWO houses were raided by teams of police officers to mark the start of a week-long crackdown on drug dealing in Nottingham.
A van full of police in riot gear backed up by plain clothes detectives went in to one house at just after 8am and another at around 9am yesterday.VIDEO: Police raids in Nottingham yesterday morning
The raids are part of Operation Vanguard – the specialist police team tackling drugs, guns and gangs in the city.
Police launched the intense campaign of raids after saying they are cutting drug dealing and violent crime by targeting 100 street gang members.
The raids yesterday were not on known gang members, but were aimed at cutting the supply of class A and class B drugs on the streets.
Detective Inspector Keith Priest, of Operation Vanguard, said: "It will be a week of enforcement, working with neighbourhood police officers, acting on intelligence from the public coming in to the beat teams, some of it related to drug activity.
"Drug-dealing also impacts on things like shop theft in the community – we are seeking opportunities to take whatever action we can this week.
"Most of it is class A – but you never know what you are going to find."
Police asked that the locations of the first two raids were kept secret.
At the first address, nothing was found. At the second, a small quantity of cannabis was uncovered along with an air pistol.
This week's operation follows the first detailed information from Operation Vanguard about the level of street gang activity uncovered in Nottingham.
Officers say they are focusing on three known gangs along with help from Vanguard Plus – the city-council scheme which works to divert young people from gang culture.
DI Priest added: "We are looking for any opportunity to send any gang member to prison – that's our job. For some members the engagement side has gone - for some the message becomes 'behave yourself or face prison'."
Notts Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said £420,000 had been allocated from the budget for policing in Notts to reduce the influence of gangs in Nottingham over the next 12 months. It will be handed out to schemes in the city by Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership.
It will build on £463,000 given to Notts by the Government last year to tackle gangs, which helped set up Vanguard Plus.
Mr Tipping said: "I've lived in Notts for a long time and I've always known there's a problem with a relatively small group of young people in gangs – we need to try and intervene and break the cycle.
"We need to prevent young people following in the footsteps of older people involved in gangs and crime."
Are police doing enough to tackle crime in Notts? Call the newsdesk on 0115 948 2000 or e-mail newsdesk@ nottinghampostgroup.co.uk
