Gangs using 11-year-olds to shift drugs
POLICE CHIEF SAYS TOWN IS ONE OF WORST FOR ORGANISED CRIME
TOP COP SAYS CRIMINALS ARE USING KIDS TO ‘LOOK AFTER’ ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES – WITH 12 GROUPS IN JUST ONE TOWN:
A TOP cop said 12 major gangs operate in one town, some of which use kids as young as 11 to move drugs.
Rochdale has the second highest rate of organised crime in Greater Manchester, Supt John-Paul Ruffle said.
Just last week, officers made a “massive” drugs bust – and seized gold bullion, supercars and thousands of pounds in cash.
That gang, police say, exploited young children to “look after” and shift illegal substances.
That “entire network” has now been shut down.
Supt Ruffle told councillors about Rochdale’s organised crime problem during an update on an emerging “community safety plan”, which should come into force next year.
The borough’s district commander said there are a dozen “nationally-recognised” criminal organisations operating in the areas.
A number of smaller groups takes the number of factions to around 25.
Only north Manchester has a bigger problem with organised criminal networks, Supt Ruffle told councillors. Rochdale is among the worst-hit areas in the north, he added.
Greater Manchester Police, Rochdale council and “partner safeguarding agencies” will work together under the “Community Safety Partnership” to tackle serious crime - and keep residents safe.
Organised gangs are a priority under the new plan.
Supt Ruffle told councillors how, last year, an axe attack in which a tree surgeon’s hand was “cut off” following an apparent road-rage incident, resulted in police uncovering a “significant organised crime group”, leading to the arrest of 12 people.
That led, last week, to the arrest of 18 people as part of Operation Gallant. Police recovered gold bullion, supercars, thousands of pounds in cash and a “massive” amount of drugs.
“That is just one [gang] in a multitude of organised crime we have got,” said Supt Ruffle.
He added: “There were children as young as 11 being criminally exploited by that group to either move drugs about, look after drugs, take care of drugs, or haul drugs and this is happening in front of us.”
As well as organised crime, the plan also focuses on tackling child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse, substance abuse and town centre economies.
Supt Ruffle painted a grim picture of the borough’s “massive” domestic abuse problem.
Rochdale has one of the highest levels of domestic homicide in the north, while drug misuse is said to be increasing “exponentially”, he added.
Police will also seek to protect town centre businesses, with Supt Ruffle saying that heart of the borough needs to be “the beacon that shines”.
“The simple fact of the matter is we can’t resolve all threats,” he added.
“We can mitigate some, which is what we do but have to concentrate on a core number at a strategic level to make an impact.” The priorities identified by police do not tally with the concerns expressed by respondents to a council survey, the meeting heard.
Residents said that as well as drug dealing, they had serious concerns about dangerous driving, vehicle crime and theft.
Coun Andy Kelly questioned why residents’ views had been sought “just to be ignored”.
Supt Ruffle said: “We’re not for one minute saying we’re not interested in the detection and prevention of crime, because we are - that’s a given, it’s underlying everything.
“So, irrespective of those priorities, ultimately, we are here to make people feel safe.”
Drug dealing is often top among the public’s concerns, but Supt Ruffle said addressing it in a piecemeal way was like playing “whack-amole”.
“Day-in, day-out we could be out there doing proactive work - what we’ve done this week is shut down an entire network.
“Unfortunately, it’s harder for us to go and explain that to somebody whose street corner has a drug dealer on it - so we have to do both.
“One is tackling the local concern, the second is tackling the strategic threat.”