A UK wide operation has led to the arrest of 11 people charged with conspiring to manufacture class A and B drugs. The gang members were part of a “major” criminal organisation that distributed drugs nation wide.
Arrests took place in Hartlepool, Liverpool, Holme House Prison in Stockton and Wales.
Operation Roderigo has already seen 15 people jailed who are serving in excess of 88 years in prison. Detective Sergeant Sarah Robinson of Cleveland Police said the operation began in 2012 to target “sophisticated, well resources, organised crime groups operating out of Cleveland and Liverpool.”
To date police have seized five kilograms of cocaine valued at £1 million, 37 kilograms of cannabis worth £55,500, Amphetamine worth £800,000 and £120,000 worth of methamphetamine.
The raids were the culmination of 2 years of planning and were carried out by 3 separate police forces. The people targeted had been identified as “important” figures in the criminal organisation.
Detective Sergeant Sarah Robinson, who is leading the investigation, said: “The focus of today’s operation was to to dismantle the supply of drugs in the area.”
Arrests include a 29 year old man who was arrested inside his house in Ward Jackson, Hartlepool, a 29 year old man arrested in Caistor Drive, a 33 year old from Arncliffe Gardens and a 36 year old man from Park Square.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, Barry Coppinger says forces are doing everything they can to tackle drug distribution in the region and will continue to focus on organisations who are coming up with increasingly sophisticated ways to stay under the radar of law enforcement.
Recently 11 men and women were arrested in the UK over allegedly smuggling £650 million worth of drugs into the UK over 4 years. The 11 Colombian nationals were believed to be the largest cocaine cartel operating in the UK.
Earlier in the year police arrested 36 people in Birmingham after carrying out raids across multiple locations. It was said the criminal organisation was delivering drugs in the are “like pizzas”.
Operation Roderigo is an ongoing investigation to tackle the manufacture and supply of drugs throughout the UK.