Chief Inspector Jon Burrows with some of the £250,00 worth of drugs seized in Derry in the past year.
“We are coming after you, we are getting the public’s help in doing that and if we put you in front of the court you will get a prison sentence” – that was the stark warning given today by a senior police officer in Derry to drug dealers operating in the city.
PSNI Foyle area commander, Chief Inspector Jon Burrows, was speaking as the PSNI put on display over £200,000 worth of drugs recovered in over 250 seizures in Derry during an 11 month period.
From 1 April last year to the end of February this year, the number of drug seizures in the city increased by 31% and 270 people arrested – an increase of 34% from the previous year.
The number of people appearing before the courts also increased by over 10%
Drugs seized included cannabis, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and methadone.
The haul did not include £30,000 worth of cocaine handed into police by a member of the public last month.
CI Burrows said the seizures were the result of “hard work” carried out by police with the help of the community.
He said: “Police in Foyle have worked hard with the community to take drugs off the streets and put drug dealers behind bars.
Chief Inspector Jon Burrows (left) and Inspector Declan McGrath with some of the £250,000 worth of drugs seized in Derry in the past year.
“It is important the community play their role by giving us information – we need information given to us directly or anonymously to Crimestoppers – to help us fight drugs.
“If you know who is selling drugs, who is involved in drugs, ring us anonymously or speak to your local neighbourhood police officers and we will do the search operations to turn that into arrests and convictions.”
He said drug dealers “only bring misery” and harm to the community and were “lining their own pockets” on the back of “other people’s misery.”
He added: “As an organisation, we are prioritising catching them and putting them where they belong – and the message the community is twofold – one, we are doing this to protect you and, secondly, we need your help.”
CI Burrows said those involved in recent so-called “punishment shootings” in the city were “doing nothing” in the fight against drugs.
He said: “The paramilitary groups involved in these so-called punishment shootings are just dishing out brutal violence , they are traumatising people, they are self-serving and are doing this entirely in their own interests.
“What we actually need is the public to work with the police and provide quality information and we will take drug dealers of the street.”
Stressing police were “doing a lot” to educate young people in the city about the dangers of drugs, CI Burrows described those who carried out such attacks as “enemies of the city.”
He added: “They are diverting police resources away from investigating drugs.”
And he warned about the dangers of taking “legal highs.”
He said: “What people think are legal highs – when we actually analyse them, they are invariably illegal and do great damage to young people – and in Northern Ireland people die from taking drugs.”
CI Burrows revealed police carried out daily drug operations in the city.
“We do drug operations every single day. We have carried out hundreds of house searches for drugs and have made hundreds of arrests.
“For the neighbourhood policing teams it is a daily business. They actually carry out drug enforcement work every single day.”
Welcoming prison sentences handed down by the courts to drug dealers, CI Burrows issued a stark warning to those involved in the illegal activity.
He said: “We are coming after you, we are getting the public’s help in doing that and if we put you in front of the court you will a prison sentence.”
CI Burrows rejected claims obtaining drugs in Derry was “as easy as buying a bar of chocolate,” stating the city was, in fact, “very safe” compared to other cities.
He said: “This city is increasingly getting safer. We are seeing increasingly the public helping the police tackle drugs and we are seeing less support for those groups who would take the law into their own hands – so, that is a positive picture.
“But drugs are too readily available and we need to do more and more to get drugs off the streets.”
CI Burrows concluded: “But we need to put some perspective of this – compared to many cities the UK, Ireland and Europe, Derry is very safe – and that includes drug availability.”
Tags:
