Fifteen people arrested in Welshpool and Newtown police drug raids

Fifteen people have been arrested for alleged drugs offences after a major police crackdown on heroin dealing and use in Welshpool and Newtown, the Dyfed-Powys force said today.

An undercover police officer had posed as a drug user in a sting operation, the force said.

Operation Marseille also used officers from the Serious Organised Crime Team to target people dealing in heroin and methadone.

Detective Inspector Greg Williams, of the Serious and Organised Crime Team, said eight men and seven women had been charged with drug dealing offences and would appear in court at a later date. He added officers had spent three months working on the operation.

"This is an excellent example of local people highlighting a problem to the police about drug supply within their communities being acted upon and targeted using numerous policing methods including the use of an undercover police officer posing as a drug user," he said.

Superintendent Huw Meredith, deputy divisional policing commander for Powys, said: "This operation is part of our targeted work focusing on the harm caused by drugs and focusing on drugs as one of our priorities in response to community concerns."

Deputy Chief Constable Jackie Roberts added: "This street level up operation aims to target street level markets, users, traffickers and hotspot areas. We want to disrupt, dismantle and destroy serious and organised crime, especially drug dealers and drug-related crime."