Police armed with Tasers storm Telford homes in drugs crackdown
Dozens of police officers armed with battering rams and Tasers flooded a Telford estate with a sniffer dog today to raid three houses and make arrests.
Doors were smashed down at two nearby properties in Burford and one in Beaconsfield, both in Brookside, minutes after 8am, in efforts to target drug dealing in the borough involving heroin, cannabis and crack cocaine.
About 25 members of West Mercia Police's Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNT) and Local Policing Priority Teams (LPPT) split into three units before arriving in marked and unmarked cars and vans.
In unison, shouts of 'police' echoed through the estate as officers forced entry into each property before identifying any occupants and searching every room.
Hours of planning took just minutes to conduct as officers broke through each door having been warned of the possible violence waiting on the other side.
Gallery: More photos from the raids:
Following a thorough search of one of the properties in Burford, a 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing Class B drugs, conspiring to supply a controlled substance and conspiring to supply Class A drugs.
Officers seized a 'substantial quantity' of cash from the two-storey terraced house as well as drugs.
Police also found substances when they stormed a property in Beaconsfield and arrested one man on suspicion of conspiring to supply a controlled drug.
The eight officers that raided the address found further information which they said would later lead to a fourth address being investigated.
It took two swift blows from the battering ram before the door to the second address in Burford, a flat, swung open.
Officers rushed into the property before announcing each room to be 'clear'.
Although the dwelling was unoccupied, officers found and seized drug paraphernalia.
An early morning briefing warned the teams of the possible dangers as well as the addition of a sniffer dog drafted in to aid each search.
Once officers had breached and secured the properties, the canine was called in and took just minutes to pore over each area as well as three top of the range cars believed to be involved with dealing drugs.
Sergeant Al Black said the operation had been a success and missions such as this play an important role to instil assurance within the community.
Overseeing the raids, he said: "One of the properties was unoccupied but it's been a successful operation.
"A lot of work and intelligence has been collected by the team in Brookside and it sends out the right messages to people in the area.
"Brookside residents as a whole want to have that comfort and quality of life and our job is to ensure that – especially when there are children in the area that might be affected.
"We want to ensure the children around Brookside don't get into any criminality."
The warrant to raid the buildings was signed off yesterday following weeks of officers gathering intelligence.
Inspector Sean Brennan said the warrants were carried out following tip-offs from members of the public.
He said: "Today we acted in response to information from the Brookside community by executing a number of search warrants under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
"We arrested two men on suspicion of conspiring to supply Class A drugs and they’ll be questioned later.
"The vast majority of residents absolutely support what we are doing and I am asking local people to say 'enough is enough' and work with us to drive these people out.
"There is a tiny minority out there pushing drugs, exploiting young people and children, ruining lives, and making money on the backs of others.
"We’re determined to put a stop to it and if people have information on crime or anti-social behaviour then they need to call us.
"One of my key priorities is to make Brookside an even safer place to live and if the public tell us what they see and hear on the estate then we can achieve that aim together."
Within an hour of the operation getting underway, a Safer Neighbourhood Team community van took to the estate to address concerned residents and answer any questions.
Anybody with information about drug offences happening in their area is asked to call police on 101. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org
