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Five people arrested and drugs seized during raids
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The police van used during the raids
A police dog searches outside an address
KENT NEWS: Police made five arrests and seized a quantity of drugs during raids on five addresses in Pembury and Tunbridge Wells yesterday.

About 30 officers and two specialist drugs dogs were used to search the properties after warrants were executed early on Thursday morning.

The raids in Henwood Green Road, Pembury and Willow Tree Road, Tunbridge Wells, were launched to crackdown on drug dealing and anti-social behaviour after complaints by neighbours.

Families had pleaded for action after becoming sick of seeing drug users arguing or fighting in the street, and taking illegal substances in full view.

So the high-profile raids, which used uniformed officers from Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge, and a marked police van, were mounted to stop drug dealing and send the message that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.

Search warrants were executed at four addresses in Pembury and one in Tunbridge Wells. Three women and a man were arrested on suspicion of drugs offences, and a teenage boy was arrested for an outstanding shoplifting offence.

A woman was today released on police bail to allow further investigation after being quizzed in custody overnight, and two women and a man had been released after being cautioned for possession of drugs.

The youth was given a fixed penalty notice for shoplifting.

Chief Inspector Martin Wilson, the district commander for Tunbridge Wells, said: “We executed a number of search warrants in Pembury and Tunbridge Wells on Thursday morning.

“This was a fairly large operation with about 30 officers deployed along with two specialist drugs dogs. As the investigation is in its early stages it is not prudent for me to provide too much detail on this.

“However, I am pleased to be able to say that we recovered a quantity of drugs and made four arrests for drugs offences.”

He added: “The problems in Pembury have surfaced because of the number of complaints from the community.

“People have been unhappy with the anti-social behaviour and the drug dealing in the area and have made complaints to the housing association, their MP and the police.

“I was pleased to be able to lead an operation that firmly and visibly tackled these issues."

A large number of residents had complained about the drug dealing and anti-social behaviour to Town and Country Housing, and another four lodged complaints with Greg Clark, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells, which were all passed on to the police.

A spokesman for Town & Country Housing Group said: "We had a number of complaints from concerned residents about anti-social behaviour and have been working closely with West Kent Police to resolve the the problem.

"As a landlord we have a responsibility to ensure that all of our residents and their families can live in a safe environment.

"We will continue to work with the police to ensure that any future issues are dealt with."

PC Martin Kemble, who co-ordinated the raids, said it was vital that the community informs the police about issues of this nature so they can tackle them head-on.

He said: “Drug use brings its own problems. It attracts anti-social behaviour as it attracts people with little regard for legality and the people around them.

“It brings arguments in the street and fighting, which is disruptive to neighbours and in certain locations people will hang around using drugs.

“It is vital that members of the public tell us about their concerns within their communities. We will take action if we get the information.”

Officers from Tunbridge Wells rural neighbourhood team, Tunbridge Wells neighbourhood task team, Tunbridge Wells tactical team and Tonbridge neighbourhood task team took part in the raids.
POSTED: 30/07/2010 13:07:12

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