As police across Wiltshire staged early morning raids to catch drug pushers Gazette reporters JILL CROOKS, ANDY DAVEY and LILY CANTER were on hand to witness the teams in action.

POLICE dealt Wiltshire drug dealers a massive blow in a wave of early morning raids intended to disrupt the supply of heroin and crack cocaine in the county.

At exactly 7am on Thursday, officers broke down the doors of 23 homes in Devizes, Chippenham and Calne, in one of the largest cross-county drug operations in the history of the Wiltshire Constabulary.

More than 130 Wiltshire officers, including those from the county's Melksham-based specialised drugs unit, were involved in the synchronised strike that led to the arrest of 33 people, some of whom were suspected of being among a hard core of drug dealers.

The operation was organised in conjunction with Avon and Somerset and Thames Valley police forces, and also saw swoops on three homes in Reading, Bristol and Burnham-on-Sea.

More than nine months of planning and intelligence gathering lay behind the raids. Police said calls made to the Gazette's Shop A Pusher hotline had provided vital information for the blitz.

Police are confident the campaign, called Operation Claire in the Chippenham police division and Operation Ardent in the Kennet section, should severely damage the supply of Class A drugs in the county.

Melksham-based Inspector Ray Josey, who was involved in the logistics of the operation, said: "We can pass the message on now that anyone dealing drugs will need to look over their shoulder because we will not put up with this. And if anyone has any suspicions they need to alert us because we will mount another operation if necessary."

Detective Inspector Chris Drake, who led Operation Ardent, said other drug dealers should not think they could now move in and take up where the others had left off.

DI Drake said: "This is just one phase of an on-going operation. We are aware that people will fill a void in Devizes but our message is, we will be watching you and we will deal with you by similar means. There is no hiding place."

He said Devizes, like other towns has a growing drug problem.

DI Drake said: "It's when you carry out operations like this that you realise the availability of drugs. However, it is confined to a small number of people."