Public reports help South West police forces to tackle the scourge of drug fuelled crime

Under Operation Scorpion £814,000 worth of drugs and over £95,000 of cash was seized across the South West. 267 weapons were removed from the streets.

Operation Scorpion is a well-established collaboration between the five police forces in the South West region (Avon and Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire), alongside their respective offices of Police and Crime Commissioners, South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) and the charity Crimestoppers.

The operation is aimed at making Devon and Cornwall and the rest of the South West a hostile environment for criminal gangs and individuals who deal drugs and those who engage in anti-social activity associated with drugs such as antisocial behaviour, violence and theft. The focus of Operation Scorpion is now on targeting drug dealing where it is linked to weapons and violence, and ridding high harm areas of drug-related anti-social behaviour (ASB).

As well making 135 safeguarding referrals to prevent further harm to people caught up in illegal drugs activity, some of them children,  during the last period of intensified activity under Operation Scorpion £814,000 worth of drugs and over £95,000 of cash was seized across the South West. 267 weapons were removed from the streets. The contribution in Devon and Cornwall amongst educational and other activity was £370,000 of drugs and £20,000 of criminal cash and 73 people including 16 children safeguarded.

Assistant Chief Constable Jim Pearce said: “As well as close collaboration with other police forces and partner organisations, I would like to acknowledge the  important role the public play in helping Devon & Cornwall Police to disrupt those who are profiting from the damage and harm that drugs bring to local communities.”

“Every piece of intelligence that is received by Devon & Cornwall Police helps us to build a picture. Specialist officers look at all the information received and from it assess the risks to a person or community. We can then decide how we can act on this information.

“Something you’ve seen or heard may seem insignificant. But your information could be the missing puzzle piece that the police need. It could help to catch a criminal and keep people in your community safe.”

Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez said: “The misuse of drugs and the criminality, violence and anti-social behaviour associated with their supply, are amongst the things that blight our communities and to which I am dedicated to weeding out.

“Myself and Devon & Cornwall Police and the four other Police and Crime Commissioners and their respective forces have been working together on Operation Scorpion, with the shared ambition of making Devon and Cornwall and the whole region no place for drugs and the misery they bring to communities.

“It’s about working together, and I can say without doubt that the public are part of the team when it comes to making Devon and Cornwall a hostile place for drug dealers and anti-social drug users. The intelligence you report to the police, anonymously or otherwise, is invaluable in helping to get drugs, dealers, anti-social behaviour and weapons off our streets, and to safeguard vulnerable people who have been caught up in this vicious criminal world.”

If you have information about drug dealing or other activity where you live, please report it to Devon & Cornwall Police online at www.devon-cornwall.police.uk/intelligence or by calling 101. The information and identity of anyone reporting intelligence to Devon & Cornwall Police is protected, but if you aren't comfortable talking directly to police, you can report anything anonymously through the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org. You can also report through the StreetSafe app for iPhone or Android https://www.police.uk/streetsafe