MORE than one million pounds worth of seized drugs have being burnt to keep them off the streets.

Hundreds of cannabis plants, Class A and prescription drugs have been seized by Cleveland Police working to disrupt the activities of those who produce and supply drugs.

The drugs were incinerated at a secret location on Teesside this morning.

Detective Sergeant Max Leonard, of Cleveland Police's Community Drug Enforcement Team, said: "We are here today to dispose of more than £1m worth of controlled drugs that have been recovered during various operations throughout Cleveland.

"Most of these drugs have been used as evidence to bring successful prosecutions against people involved in the supply of drugs in our area. We are now at the stage where these drugs are no longer required as evidence and we can make sure that they are destroyed so that they don't find their way back onto the streets of Cleveland.

"It's obvious that we are having a huge impact in doing this as this is a million pounds worth or more of criminal profits which have been taken out of the hands of criminals."

 

Assistant Chief Constable Jason Harwin, who also leads on the drugs portfolio for the National Police Chief’s Council, praised the efforts of officers working in local communities.

He said: “Drugs cause misery in our communities and destroying these items means they will no longer be at the centre of criminal activity.

“Our Community Drug Enforcement Team (CDET) effectively acts on intelligence and information from the community to stop the production and supply of drugs.”

Inspector Tony Cross from CDET identified some of the operations where the drugs had been seized.

He said: “In the last three months we have stopped more than one million pounds of drugs from reaching the streets.

“Operations such as ‘Padstow’ in Central Middlesbrough and ‘Hydra’ in Stockton have acted on intelligence to locate and dismantle cannabis farms and confiscate suspected Heroin and Crack Cocaine.

“Burning these items today sends a clear message that if you’re involved in drug dealing we will track you down, we will seize your drugs and we will destroy them so you cannot benefit from crime.

“We’d encourage anyone concerned about drugs in their community to contact us on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers and we will take action.”

Anyone who sees drugs activity in their area is asked to contact Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.