Two held in ‘cuckooing’ investigation raid
TWO people suspected of “cuckooing” were arrested following a raid.
Police swooped on an address in Blaenau Ffestinog last week and arrested a local woman in her 40s and a man in his 20s from the North West of England.
The pair were held on suspicion of being involved in the supply of Class A drugs.
Officers also seized a “large quantity” of cash and what is believed to be class A drugs at the property. Police said they are hunting a second man from the Merseyside area in connection with the incident.
Sgt Iwan Jones said: “The whole operation came about following information received from the community. We were made aware that two men from the North West of England had temporarily moved into an address in the town and were actively selling controlled drugs.”
“The method adopted by the males was in line with the county lines model, whereby drug dealers from larger urban area extend their activities to rural areas by sending low-level dealers to deal drugs on their behalf.
“The dealers usually stay at an address of a vulnerable individual, often without the consent of that individual, and carry out their activities from the address. This is known as ‘cuckooing’ due to its similarity with the behaviour of the cuckoo in occupying other birds’ nests.”
He added: “We would like to thank the community for their assistance and support during the operation. From the feedback received by local residents it is clear that there is little tolerance for this sort of activity within the town.
“We want to reassure the local community that we are taking this issue seriously and we will target individuals who persistently cause misery to local people and visitors to the area.”
Anyone with information is urged to pass it on to the Police via the web live chat http://www.northwales.police.uk/contact/chat-support.aspx or by phoning 101. Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Both the man and woman have been interviewed by detectives and released under investigation.