£4m worth of drugs taken off Cumbria's streets last year

Officers in Cumbria are continuing an operation to protect the county against serious and organised crime.

Recently the force told us about the scale of the work underway to protect Cumbria against serious and organised crime – with drugs worth £4m taken off the streets last year.

Now they can reveal that in the first six weeks of 2023 alone we have seized drugs worth at least £730,000 and about £500,000 in suspected illegally-held cash.

It means the officers protecting the public against offenders such as drug dealers and traffickers have continued the good work and hit the ground running in 2023.

The work all comes under the banner of Operation Alliance, which is the constabulary’s ongoing response to serious and organised crime.

Action taken to get these substances and cash out of circulation – and the investigations surrounding it - was taken by departments including the Roads Crime Unit, the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, the Mobile Support Group an Economic Crime Unit.

Drugs seized included cocaine, cannabis and heroin.

Detective Inspector Duncan Brooker said:

“Our officers work all-year-round to protect Cumbria against serious and organised crime.

“These figures are just a snapshot of the activity undertaken since the New Year, with a significant amount of drugs taken off the streets and cash seized.

“Enquiries continue so we are not able to be more specific at this stage.

“But the public can be assured this is what our officers do day-in, day-out to tackle and deter crime and keep people safe.”

Cumbria’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Peter McCall, said:

“Cumbria Constabulary are absolutely committed to keeping drugs off our streets and putting those who are supplying and selling these illegal substances behind bars.

“This is a superb illustration of the effect officers achieve continually to disrupt the drug trade and bring those who deal in it to justice. Drug dealers should be under no illusion that Cumbria Police will deal robustly with anyone dealing or carrying drugs, and they have my complete support in doing so, I am confident that the vast majority of the public agree.

“We can all help in the effort to minimise the effect of drugs in our county by giving information to the police if we have it, I would urge anyone who has any suspicions around drug trafficking and selling to the Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.”

For more information on Operation Alliance, go to: Operation Alliance protects Cumbria against serious and organised crime - Cumbria Constabulary.

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