FOR months householders in Devizes have berated the police for doing nothing about allegations of drug dealing in the town.

Officers have had to take this criticism on the chin, without being able to tell anyone that they were planning Operation Ardent, which was successfully carried out last Thursday.

The early morning raids led to nine people being charged with drug dealing and will have gone a long way to address the concern of residents in streets like Waiblingen Way.

The police must be applauded for the painstaking way in which their investigation was carried out.

Now we must hope that any convictions that follow will keep these dealers off the streets and act as a deterrent to anyone else who sees this evil trade as a quick way to make easy money.

And let us not forget that this is exactly what drug dealing is.

It is a cold-blooded business designed to line the pockets of the Mr Bigs in London, Bath or Bristol who risk nothing except their money.

They prey on the habits of the weak and the vulnerable who quickly become hooked on devastatingly dangerous products like crack cocaine and heroin. It is a destructive trade that turns people into criminals, outcasts and, eventually corpses.

There is a real likelihood that any dealer who is jailed will quickly be replaced by someone else only too happy to take the easy pickings on offer. That is why it is important that anyone with information about drug dealing rings the Gazette's Shop A Pusher confidential hotline.

We know it is effective but it will only continue to be so if the public keep using it.