DPP told of ‘excellent successes’ in drugs war

In response to a question on drugs related crime from Alderman James Alexander at last Wednesday night’s forum in Glenravel, Chief Inspector Ryan Henderson said: “Stopping those involved in the sale and use of illegal drugs is one important tool towards reducing the harm caused.

“We anticipate that by April, if trends continue as they are, completing around 800 searches compared to 1000 in the previous year.

“Last year’s returns in relation to stop, searches and drug arrests were exceptionally hight.

“This year we have gone about our approach to drug misuse slightly differently to support the PACT priority of heroin dealing in the Rectory Estate and other parts of the town”.

Pointing out that detection “is difficult work” due to the very small packages used by dealers, the Chief Inspector added: “That being said, Ballymena officers have had excellent successes against some of the main dealers in the town with six of them being charged with serious heroin drug offences and several users for possession of heroin charges”.

The Chief Inspector drew the meeting’s attention to the pro-active work on drug-related crime conducted by police and, in particular, the tactical support group/Ballymena Crime Team.

This, he said, had netted some £350,000 in drug seizures in the reporting period.

The meeting heard that police carried out 48 drug searches in the Ballymena area, many of them in the Rectory Estate, a location which the Chief Inspector said had been “repeatedly named as a community concern”.

As a result of the searches, Class A and B drugs were seized and arrests made and over 700 cannabis plants valued at over £500,000 were seized in a search in the Ahoghill area.

Chief Inspector Henderson said: “This confirms the trend for larger quantities of drugs being cultivated or stored outside the Ballymena town area and brought in in smaller quantities.

“In the first nine months of this year 101 people have been arrested (for drugs related offences) compared to 137 for the same period last year.