A series of raids and targeted operations have been carried out by police to tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour and drug dealing.
Neighbourhood policing teams from across the Cleveland Police force area where on the streets acting on information supplied to them by concerned and fed-up residents in blighted communities.
Cannabis farms, drugs dens and off-road motorbikes were all in the sights of officers determined to show criminals that their illegal actions have not gone unnoticed and will not be tolerated.
Police smashed their way into a terraced house on Falmouth Street, Middlesbrough, after residents raised concerns about suspected drug dealing and anti-social behaviour taking place from the town centre address.
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PC Pierce Ditchburn co-ordinated the raid on the property where suspected drugs were found along with associated paraphernalia and a stash of weapons, including a large knife, a short sword and a sledgehammer.
He said: “We have gone into the address and whilst we have been inside, we have seized items relating to drug dealing including a substantial amount of white powder which we believe to be a Class A substance, alongside weighing scales and mobile phones.
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“We have also taken a number of weapons from the address.
“We will continue to take action against these people who are obviously making our communities a misery.”
One neighbour welcomed the police action at the property as two people were led away in handcuffs.
She said: “It’s about time something was done to sort this out.”
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Earlier in the week cocaine, heroin and a large amount of cash was seized from a property on Ayresome Street, Middlesbrough, and a closure order was imposed to close down the drugs den.
And suspected cocaine, a large amount of cash and drugs paraphernalia were seized from a property on Beckenham Gardens in Hemlington.
Officers and PCSOs spent time visiting schools and patrolling the area which resulted in a car being seized as the driver had no licence.
On Wednesday morning, a raid was also carried out at another suspected drugs den in Stockton where officers recovered thousands of pounds worth of designer gear but no illicit substances.
However, earlier in the week they executed a drugs warrant on Swinburn Road in Norton, where £100,000 worth of cannabis was recovered.
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