Ten people were arrested after a travellers’ camp became the scene for one of the biggest drugs operations York has ever seen.
About 160 officers, specialist drugs teams and sniffer dogs were involved in the raid aimed at cracking cannabis dealing in North Yorkshire.
Police executed 12 warrants under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, at the travellers’ caravan site, near the former grain stores at Clifton Moor. A further warrant was carried out at a house in Brailsford Crescent, Clifton.
The operation, codenamed Kineto, saw 50 police vehicles travel in convoy to the camp while police teams blocked exits and officers searched several properties at the site, which holds about 23 caravan pitches.
Dozens of residents came out of their homes and watched as police flooded the site at about 10am and secured the premises, with battering rams used to smash a path into properties thought to be cultivating the Class B drug.
Officers seized 21 cannabis plants, £2,000 in cash and £750 in counterfeit money in the raid.
Chief Inspector Dave Hannon, who spearheaded the operation, said it was one of the biggest raids in North Yorkshire’s policing history.
He said: “We have been putting this raid together since January 11 and have been working with intelligence people from the local community have given us, as well as intelligence we have obtained by ourselves.
“We want to send the message that anybody who commits crime in York and North Yorkshire is not above the law.
“It doesn’t matter who you are – if you commit a crime you will be caught and brought to justice.”
He said Operation Kineto was linked to the force’s day of action in December – codenamed Gatecrasher – which was also one of the largest and most concerted narcotics-busting operations staged in York.
“Like Operation Gatecrasher, these raids were about listening to concerns from members of the local community and acting on that information,” he said.
“We have done these raids because the community has said it is a problem.
“We hope that as a result of this operation, the confidence in police remains high and shows we are committed to tackling antisocial behaviour and offending."
Jennifer Bell joined North Yorkshire Police in yesterday’s raids;
As far as the eye could see, blue flashing lights blinked in the morning fog – signalling the start of North Yorkshire Police’s latest operation in cracking down on drug crime.
The destination for the massed ranks of police officers was a travellers’ caravan site on the edge of the city, and their united aim was to sound an unwelcome wake-up call for those suspected of peddling cannabis.
Operation Kineto was launched following weeks of meticulous planning and a final morning briefing to map out the strategy and intentions of one of the largest police crackdowns ever seen in York.
Its sudden arrival at the caravan site brought nearby residents out of their homes in surprise, astonishment, intrigue and sheer shock as a ring of law enforcement was thrown around the scene.
Chief Inspector Dave Hannon said an operation of this size took considerable planning.
“As a chief officer I have to look at whether an operation is practical, justified and achievable.
“If you get information suggesting a person is growing a cannabis plant in their bedroom, of course you won’t need up to 200 officers.
“However, in a site of this size, you have to take into consideration not only the safety of the officers, but primarily the safety of the local community and those at the site.
“When the site was secure, the officers were released back to their day-to-day working on North Yorkshire’s streets."
Outcome of the operation
· 12 warrants executed – 11 on the caravan site and one at Brailsford Crescent, in Clifton.
· Ten people arrested under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.
· 160 police officers involved in the raid – 80 searched the park, 70 sealed off the site, while the rest searched the house at Brailsford Crescent.
· About 50 police vehicles were involved in the operation.
· 21 cannabis plants were seized. The value when fully grown is estimated at about £500 a plant.
· £2,000 in cash and £750 in counterfeit currency were also seized.
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