Update on Violence Reduction Campaign in the North East
Published 7 February 2020
Police in the North East have been executing a series of warrants to tackle recent reports of violent incidents and drug crime across the region.
For the past two weeks, officers have been carrying out an enhanced and targeted pro-active operation to disrupt known violent offenders suspected of supplying drugs. The campaign also aims to take a robust approach against those possessing weapons.
This week, 12 properties were searched in the North East under warrant:
• Drugs with an estimated street value of £11,000 were recovered - including heroin, cocaine and cannabis
• 2 weapons were seized
• £2,000 in cash were seized
• 21 people were arrested
The enforcement action was carried out by a dedicated team of 20 officers, who also carried out enhanced patrols in specific areas in order to target individuals who commit these types of crimes.
Detective Inspector Grant Pert, of Aberdeen CID, said: "Tackling individuals who commit such acts of violence and drug crime is a priority for Police Scotland and we will continue to ensure that our officers in the North East tackle these issues which can have such a devastating effect on our local communities.
"Although executing warrants, tackling violence and disrupting drug crime is standard, day-to-day activity for the police, this enhanced operation delivers a clear message to offenders that these crimes will not be tolerated and we will arrest those responsible and bring them to court.
"Enforcement action and arresting those responsible will continue in the coming weeks and I would urge members of the public to continue to assist in our enquiries by telling us about these individuals - where they stay and what they are doing. Operations like this cannot take place without the assistance of the public and I thank them for their continued support."
Inspector Kenny McGeoch, of the Divisional Alcohol Violence Reduction Unit, added: "The North East remains a very safe place to live, work and socialise. It's our job to keep people safe and we will continue to actively disrupt criminality and protect the public against violence in our communities. There is no place for violence in our society, irrespective of the reason why.
"If anyone has any concerns or information regarding suspicious activity in their community, I would urge them to report what they know to police, no matter how small or apparently insignificant they think it is. It could be a piece of a wider investigation that we could use to trace offenders and prevent them causing further harm."
