Hitting them where it hurts (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Hitting them where it hurts

SWINDON police are warning there is nowhere for drug dealers to hide as an Adver backed campaign to snare pushers celebrates its second birthday.

Since its launch in June 2003, the Swindon Drugs Hotline has helped clear numerous dealers off our streets.

Thousands of pounds worth of drugs have been seized, and a crackden shut down.

But police have vowed to keep up the pressure on evil criminal gangs who make money by tearing young lives apart.

Detective Sergeant Gerry Watkins, who heads Swindon's drugs squad, said: "The hotline has been a major boost to our battle to get dealers behind bars where they belong.

"Residents may not even realise it when they call us, but often they give us that small piece of information we have been searching for.

"My message is to report anything suspicious."

In February, police used new powers to shut a notorious crackhouse in the Railway Village.

Tenant Hosea Stewart was sent packing, along with two women with whom he shared a flat in Emlyn Square.

Afterwards, local residents spoke of their relief.

One 42-year-old mother said: "It's just brilliant now, I feel so much safer.

"They were always running up and down the alleyway at the side of my house, and I found needles in the back yard."

Information left on the confidential hotline has led to several raids in the past year.

In April, crack cocaine worth £6,000 was seized in a bust in Upper Stratton.

Around £10,000 in cash was also found, and police arrested three suspected dealers.

One area of major concern is gangs from London who recruit teenagers on the streets of Swindon to sell drugs in the town.

One of these youngsters was Daniel Dent.

Last month Swindon Crown Court heard how he was engulfed in a seedy world of drugs and gun crime.

The 16-year-old, from Toothill, was given a two-year intensive supervision order meaning that he will be under curfew every night and have electronic surveillance equipment in his house.

The boy, who was 15 when arrested, is believed to be the youngest person convicted of a firearms offence in Swindon.

Hotline 01793 528800