Dealers beware

TODAY, at least £50,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin will be sold on the streets of Swindon.

It will be sold by around 100 dealers, who make vast profits from a trade which ruins lives, tears families apart and destroys communities.

But from today, every dealer on every street corner, in every car park and in every filthy stairwell should beware.

With drug-related crime in Swindon on the increase, the Evening Advertiser and the police have joined forces to declare war on those who sell drugs.

We want you to report anyone you suspect of selling drugs to our new Swindon Drugs Hotline.

The phoneline - Swindon 528800 - will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from today. All calls are free, and callers can remain anonymous if they choose.

During the day, the line will be answered by officers from the divisional intelligence unit at Swindon police station. The police rely on intelligence to fight the dealers.

Det Ch Insp Norman McKeaveney, who heads the fight against drugs in Swindon, said: "We need the public to give us the names of the suppliers.We need anything that will assist us. We will look into anything, nothing is too frivolous.

"It could be groups of suspicious people meeting in gangs or people congregating around telephone boxes. It might be large numbers of people going into a property for a couple of minutes then leaving."

Officers want information on dealers selling any kind of illegal drug.

Police estimate that at least 2,500 people in Swindon have a hard drug problem.

Each addict needs to spend between £20 and £80 every day to feed their habit. And most do this by robbing and thieving. Of the 1,000 home burglaries and 200 street robberies committed in the town last year, the vast majority were committed by drug addicts desperate to satisfy their cravings. DCI McKeaveney said: "Drug addiction is one of the biggest social problems in Swindon.

"Once addicted, people will do anything to obtain drugs. I know one addict who robbed his own mother.

"We are totally aware of the problem, and we are working to tackle it, but we could do more with the public's help."

By catching the dealers, the police will be ripping out the root of the problem. In January, police launched Operation Defy to crackdown on Class A drug dealers.

So far, 25 search warrants have been issued, of which 23 resulted in drugs being seized. The total value of substances seized is around £23,000.

Between January 2002 and January 2003, 45 people in Swindon were charged with supplying Class A drugs, 30 were charged with supplying Class B drugs, such as cannabis and amphetamine, and 292 people were charged with possessing drugs 49 of these related to heroin and 244 related to other drugs, including crack cocaine, Ecstasy and cannabis.

Tell us about the pushers

We need information about anyone you suspect of being involved in selling drugs.

All information received will be taken seriously by the police. Calls are free and confidential, and callers can remain anonymous if they wish.

Simply pick up the phone and call the 24-hour Swindon Drugs Hotline number - 528800.

During office hours, calls will be answered by an officer at Swindon Police Station.

An answer phone will operate outside of these times. Leave as much information about the suspected dealer as you can, such as names, ages, addresses, if possible, or a good description, plus the location and times of any suspicious activities.

We are waiting for your call.