Tide Times
DRUGS, cash and knives were recovered as police raided a town centre property and intercepted a drug deal.
Officers claimed a haul which included money and brown powder as they launched a day of action in Southport last Thursday.
The most notable incident saw a swarm of police vehicles descend on the the corner of Lord Street and Bold Street.
Two police vans, a patrol car and two unmarked vehicles were all parked as police carried out searches.
Officers on patrol on Bold Street acted after noticing a strong smell of cannabis which they believed to be linked to two males entering an address.
The officers detained the two males, executed a search of the address and recovered a quantity of suspected Class A and B drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Two men, aged 57 and 59, both from Southport, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs.
They have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
Following this, officers executed a further warrant at premises on Lord Street and seized two knives.
Passers-by in the town centre watched on as officers repeatedly entered the corner building, which houses the Casa Italia restaurant, and returned with bagged items.
One woman, who asked not to be named, told the Visiter she was visiting the resort for a day trip and was shocked to see the police scene.
She said: “It looks very serious. We come to Southport whenever we can and you don’t expect to see something like this.
“It’s a bit scary to think something bad could have happened while we were here.
Later, a suspected drugs deal was also witnessed by officers in a silver Hyundai on Marlborough Road before searching the vehicle and finding cash and brown powder.
The driver of the vehicle, a 33-year-old man from Southport, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs. He has since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
The day formed part of Operation Vermont, a proactive policing operation which uses various tactics and resources to find criminals and protect those living in the local area.
Community Policing inspector Raymond Mavrakakis said: “Thankfully, following yesterday’s activity, dangerous weapons and drugs have now been removed from our streets before they can be used to cause harm in our communities across Merseyside.
“We know how important it is to work with our partners in order to target issues such as drug dealing and its associated criminality and we know, from public feedback, that our communities welcome seeing officers on the street carrying out this type of activity.
“Proactive work such as this is carried out by officers every day to ensure Southport and the rest of Merseyside remains a safe place for our communities to live, work and visit and we will continue to listen to the public’s concerns and act on any information given to us.
“Information from our communities plays a vital part in bringing offenders to justice, so I would like to encourage the public to continue to come forward to us, or speak to Crimestoppers anonymously, so that we can take action.”
If you have information on criminality in your area, please contact @ MerPolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress. 02:06 9.4 14:26 8.8 02:40 9.1 14:58 8.5 03:15 8.7 15:32 8.2 03:51 8.3 16:10 7.8 04:35 7.7 16:59 7.4 05:31 7.2 18:07 7.0 06:51 6.9 19:37 6.9
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