@AycliffeToday
OPERATION ORIENT:
AYCLIFFE DRUGS SWOOP
Police smashed their way into
three houses in Newton Aycliffe as
part of a huge covert drugs swoop.
Durham Constabulary’s Operation
Orient involved more than 160 police
officers targeting 15 premises in the
County – three in Aycliffe as well as
six in nearby Shildon and another six
in Bishop Auckland.
Aycliffe
Today
attended
the
operation, which started by meeting
Aycliffe officers at 4am before
travelling to a secret location near
Durham for a briefing attended by
County Durham Police & Crime
Commissioner Ron Hogg.
Then,
under
early
morning
darkness, teams of 11 or 12 officers
were dispatched to the 15 different
locations, where a synchronised strike
on all addresses was ordered at about
6am.
Officers used specialist equipment
to force their way into the premises
– one in Agnew and two in the
Horndale area – before the homes
were searched and suspects taken
to various different police stations for
questioning.
A total of 18 arrests were made,
and officers told us the operation
was just the culmination of months
of intelligence gathering, building up
enough evidence to create a strong
enough case for prosecution.
Durham
Constabulary
Chief
Inspector Dave Turner thanked
members of the public, adding: “They
pass us the information, and we have
to thank them for their patience and
tolerance.”
More on this story, including a video
feature showing one of the strikes
in Aycliffe, is at www.aycliffetoday.
co.uk
MEET YOUR BOBBIES
The Newton Aycliffe Neighbourhood
Police Team is often changing, with
officers being moved to different
locations.
Our NPT is active in its work in the
community and is also proactive when
it comes to talking to residents and
being active in the media.
Sergeant Mark Edwards, who writes
a regular blog on Aycliffe Today, is
giving our readers an up-to-date
lowdown on his troops.
In this issue, we focus on PCSO
RICHARD
SCOTT,
who
works
alongside Alan Thompson on the
Neville and Simpasture wards.
Sgt Edwards says: “Richie is a
very popular character within the
community and always has a smile.
“He has been with the NPT since
early 2010. Richie conducts a lot of
Community Speedwatch activities
and works closely with our volunteers.
“He
was
been
awarded
a
number of WOW awards which are
acknowledgments of good work
done in the Community which are
nominated by local residents.”
MARK MY WORDS…
With Aycliffe Neighbourhood
Police Team Sergeant MARK
EDWARDS…
Drug dealing – and the
perception
of
it,
affects
communities.
Fact!
Enter
Operation Orient: the culmination
of five months of focused,
committed,
behind-the-scenes
determination by Durham Police
to tackle the issue.
Earlier this month, officers
descended on a number of
addresses
across
Aycliffe,
Shildon and Bishop Auckland
where a series of magistrates
search warrants were executed
and arrests made of persons
concerned in drugs supply. All
were charged.
We share the concerns held
by local residents and I can
understand the frustration people
must feel at what they perceive
to be a failure of the Police to
act on information provided. As
Operation Orient has shown every
bit of information provided by the
public forms part of the larger
puzzle – an intelligence picture
needs to be painted, supported by
other Policing tactics. It’s not just
those on the front line that have
an important part to play, support
and back office staff work hard
behind the scenes pulling it all
together and devising strategies.
I hope the success of Orient
shows the people of Aycliffe that
the Police do take drug misuse and
associated criminality seriously
and I can assure residents that my
team and those other Commands
operating within Newton Aycliffe
and Middridge will assess every
piece of intelligence received and
act upon it accordingly.