Drugs cops swoop on Newstead

No fewer than 34 officers carried out the co-ordinated raids and started kicking in doors at addresses at 7 am last Friday.

Houses targeted were in Byron Street, Markham Street, Chatsworth Terrace, The Quadrangle and Fraser Street.

Seven people have now been arrested six on the day of the operation and one on Tuesday. Five have been charged.

Cannabis and amphetamines with a street value of around 1,000 were discovered.

And in three of the houses, sophisticated hydroponic systems, set up to cultivate cannabis, were also found and seized.

One of the systems was so elaborate that it was concealed behind a false wall.

Insp Mark Holland said: "We were satisfied to get results from all the houses. Things like this disrupt the supply in the area."

The operation, which was codenamed Operation Skew, took about two weeks to plan.

Added Insp Holland: "Raids like this send the right message to dealers that they are going to be targeted and send the right message to good people that police will raid houses and combat drugs."

Villagers have been claiming for a long time that there is a big problem with drugs in Newstead.

It has been said that heroin-addicts are regularly using certain sites in the village and that syringes have been found on a car park.

The latest raids build on a similar swoop last May when a 'cannabis farm', including 6,000 worth of plants, was found in a house at Newstead.