Behind the scenes of a major drugs bust

Police of of all rank and specialty are called to a briefing at 4.30am at a Bristol sports club we are asked not to name. Among them are officers in riot gear, forensic officers and community support officers. Most of them have no idea what this morning’s operation will entail.

Tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches are laid on before the briefing begins at 5am. A total of 91 officers mill about the hall waiting for their orders.

This morning’s operation (the name of which we are asked to withhold) is revealed to officers. It is a series of dawn raids on low-level street drug dealers in response to complaints from the communities of St Paul’s and Easton.

“Today is the day we show people we have listened and we are here to help take back their communities,” neighbourhood inspector Oliver Cosgrove explains. He adds that the raids are the culmination of six months of careful planning. 

Officers head for the waiting police vans and cars which slowly make their way out towards the entrance before splitting up into groups.

Some officers quickly get dressed into full protective gear ahead of the raids which they expect to carry out by smashing straight through doors without warning in order to arrest their targets.

We follow the convoy of vans now heading to their separate locations. There are eight targets in the first wave of dawn raids, with more to follow later in the morning.

We arrive at a property in Sussex Place, St Paul’s, too late to see officers rush through the door – which is left in pieces.

Inside, officers – some in uniform and some plain-clothed – track down their suspect, waking up the whole house in the process. He is promptly arrested and taken away.

Inspector Cosgrove stands across the road awaiting news of other raids in the area and planning the next move. Neighbours begin to come out of their homes to see the commotion.

Some officers remain at the property to conduct a thorough search while some return to the van to prepare for the next raid.

It’s standing room only as officers in their full protective gear pile into the van as it heads off at speed, throwing us around in the back. There is a brief bit of confusion about which number house we are targeting next.

The van pulls into Belmont Street, Easton, and officers pile out, racing to the door before smashing it open and filing in.

The smashed door is left swinging as they head upstairs to apprehend the target before searching the property.

Some officers begin their search while the suspect is handcuffed upstairs ready to be walked out to the van.

The man is marched to the back of the vehicle having been arrested on suspicion of possessing Class A drugs with an intent to supply.

Inspector Cosgrove takes a moment to explain that the operation is just one part of a wholesale approach to drug crime. Larger operations – like Operation Zephyr – deal with the organised crime element.

The Inspector adds that police are working with Bristol Drugs Project on today’s raids to ensure there is follow-up support work for those caught up in drug crime.

We head off to Gwyn Street in St Paul’s, arriving as the sun rises to see the end of another raid.

Forensic officers are already recording the finds, including money and phones – but no drugs. Police are approached by one man heading to his car who complains that they are “10 weeks too late”. The man declines an officers’ offer to explain fully what they are doing on his street.

One man has already been arrested and taken away from the property. But inside children are still getting ready for school.

Officers find a bundle of notes in a drawer in the kitchen, where the children remain eating their cereal.

The money is sealed and taken away as evidence.

Mobile phones are also boxed up and labeled before being taken away for analysis. Like everything the police remove, they later may be used in court as evidence.

We head off on a short ride to Mary Carpenter Place in St Werburgh’s where officers have seized a batch of Class A drugs with the help of a sniffer dog.

Diesel the dog is given a big congratulatory hug by his handler.

The find was made in a bike shed where bags of what is believed to be crack cocaine were being stored in a trainer. Forensic officers record the exact location on camera.

The wraps – of which there are more than 100 worth about £10 each – are catalogued before being sealed in clear evidence bags.

The drugs join a seizure of cash at the property as evidence which will be used when prosecuting the man who was arrested and taken away.

We head to Trinity Road police station for a welcome cup of tea while we await news of a second wave of raids.

Soon after we jump in a van heading back to where we started, a call comes in on the radio of a raid where the target was seen allegedly dealing drugs outside his property. We are informed of a chase on foot from Lawfords Gate in Easton into Old Market. We follow the officers who run out onto the road in front of us and tackle the suspected dealer.

The chase ends on Unity Street, at the back of the Bristol Post building, where the suspect is pinned to the ground and searched before being taken away.

Three wraps and a small amount of cash are found and sealed in an evidence bag as the operation comes to a close.

By the afternoon, police release full details of the morning’s work. 

Ten people have been arrested in total, including:

• A 24-year-old man from Sussex Place, St Werburgs
• A 24-year-old man from Badminton Road, St Paul’s
• A 36-year-old man from Gwyn Street, St Paul’s
• A 39-year-old man from Clifton Vale, Hotwells
• A 24-year-old man from Belmont Street, Easton
• A 40-year-old man from Mary Carpenter Place, St Werburghs
• A 19-year-old man from Champion Square, Saint Philips
• A 22-year-old man from Gwyn Street, St Paul’s
• A 22-year-old man from Chisbury Street, Eastville
• A 63-year-old man from Shaftesbury Avenue, St Paul’s

Delroy Hibbert (pictured above), one of the community leaders who helped highlight the recent problem of drug dealing to police, said: “Today’s enforcement has to be welcomed but it is only part of the resolution. Every effort needs to be put into prevention and rehabilitation because there will always be someone else to fill the void left by those taken off the streets.

“It’s an impossible dream to get rid of the problem completely but we can never stop trying.

“The majority of people in the community are always willing to talk to the police and pass on information and that has to be recognised because it’s very hard to tell on one of your own.”