Over a hundred of people have been arrested, after drugs were recovered and vehicles were seized during lockdown in Stockton.

Officers from the Stockton Neighbourhood Team have arrested 110 people, conducted many drugs warrants and stopped and searched over 236 people whilst out on patrol since March.

As a result of the work carried out by the team across the Stockton district, items such as machetes, knuckle dusters, knives, class A and B drugs, 12 cars and 12 motorbikes/scooters have been seized in total.

This morning, (Monday, June 22), a silver Mercedes was recovered in Norton by officers who suspected that the vehicle was involved in drugs activity.

Over the weekend another vehicle and scooter were seized by officers and a woman was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

As a result of enquiries linked to this arrest, a property in Stockton town centre was searched where weapons and suspected drugs paraphernalia were recovered.

The woman has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

Stockton Neighbourhood Inspector Jon Willlougby said: “Throughout the lockdown period, my team have continued to go above and beyond to keep the streets of Stockton safe and have stopped these potentially dangerous drugs and weapons from getting onto Stockton’s streets.

“In addition to this, over 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including possession of drugs, driving offences, money laundering, assaults and many more. One man was recently sentenced to three and a half years in prison as a result of his arrest and conviction.

“The sergeants, officers and PCSOs in our team are a credit to our Force, and even with the added danger of a pandemic, they have worked incredibly hard to protect our communities.

“Our positive results during lockdown are partly down to intelligence from members of the public, which we will act on wherever possible and I would like to thank the public for having the confidence to come forward to report crime to us. I hope the residents of Stockton can be reassured that we are doing everything we can to clamp down on criminal activity.”

Do you have information about criminal activity in your area? If so, call Cleveland Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.