Police Launch Major Crackdown On Drug Dealing In Chiswick
Say prolific offender arrested following recent drugs raid
Previous arrest of suspected drug dealer in Chiswick
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Police have launched a major crackdown on drug dealing in Chiswick, and that the have arrested a 'main culprit" during a covert operation last week, the second major raid since January.
The most serious drug dealing problems have been in Homefields ward where the latest statistics presented to councillors this week showed that there was a 100 per cent increase in drug-related criminal activity in six months. Police claim that measures being taken are taking effect. It is believed that one reason for the significant increase in knife crime in the area is an increased number of drug dealers operating around Chiswick.
Locals have been complaining about drug dealing on residential streets, near local takeaways, a car-park, and even behind the Ballet Rambert premises. Several residents who attended the recent public meeting on crime named streets and one pub where they said drug dealing was taking place. Chiswick Common was also reported as a hotspot but this has now apparently improved following intense police activity due to the muggings on the Common.
The most recent major success was last month, when on Thursday 28 March, Homefields officers organised a joint covert operation with the Chiswick sector teams to target prolific drug dealing in the area.
Police said, "This operation was a success with the main culprit
arrested for Possession With Intent to Supply. We couldn't have
done this without the information received from members of the public,
you're our eyes when we are not there, so please keep the information
coming.
Finally we'd like to say a big thank you to local residents for
all your patience while we have been planning this operation."
"In the last month all three wards Chiswick Homefields, Chiswick Riverside and Turnham Green have seen a significant reduction in drug related offences. Across Chiswick sector there has been a number of arrests for possession and supply offences. Local officers develop intelligence received from the community and take positive action resulting in drug warrants being issued by the Magistrate's court and closure orders for properties used to misuse and supply controlled drugs."
A previous successful operation was on 11 January when safer neighbourhood officers executed a drugs warrant on Chiswick Homefields recovering offensive weapons and drugs paraphernalia. A police spokesman said they could not reveal details of their operations but the public could rest assured they were doing all they could.
The latest statistics presented in the police report to last week's Chiswick
Area Forum can be seen below.
The move against drugs crime comes as Scotland Yard announces a new drugs
analysis service to speed up convictions after arrests.
The Rapid Drugs Service (RDS), a fast-time drug analysis service which
was successfully piloted last year, is now available to all officers who
make an arrest for possession with intent to supply drugs, or drugs supply
offences. Scotland Yard says it is already helping to secure evidence
and bring prosecutions quicker.
So far, the service has enabled officers to bring more than 150 charges against serious drug suspects in custody. It has also helped reduce the average time between arrest and charge for drugs supply offences.
Drug dealing is known to be a pretext for some of the serious violence
which occurs in London, and innovations like the Rapid Drugs Service are
helping officers bring prosecutions forward they say.
Detective Superintendent Sean Yates, of the Met's Violent Crime
Task Force, said: 'Drug dealing blights communities, and creates
great social harm and fear in the places where these criminals operate.
We know that a significant proportion of violent crime in London is linked
to drugs, with dealers and gangs resorting to serious violence in battles
over drug market territory and 'competition' from rivals.
'The Rapid Drugs Service will complement the enforcement work being done every day in the capital to tackle this scourge, and enable officers to secure the evidence needed to keep offenders in custody, and bring them before the courts quickly and efficiently.'
The service allows officers who have made an arrest for possession with intent to supply drugs, or drugs supply, to have seized drugs analysed with a speedy turnaround.
Currently, drugs analysis takes place at a facility on the outskirts of London and can take several weeks for the results to come back. The Rapid Drugs Service, based at headquarters in Lambeth, can complete the analysis of drugs seized during operations - powder, tablet and herbal substances – within a few hours.
This greatly increases the prospect of being in a position to charge
that person and remand them in custody until their first court appearance,
as opposed to having to bail them or release them under investigation
which could result in further offending.
April 8, 2019
