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Police drug swoop
Police tackle post office that had become a ‘one-stop shop for crack and heroin users’
A RING of drug dealers who used a post office to serve crack and heroin to addicts as they cashed their benefits giros was smashed yesterday (Wednesday), detectives claimed.
Police in riot gear swooped on a 33-year-old man outside the Travelex foreign exchange and post office in Russell Square as what police believe was a daily queue of class A drug users waited for their morning fix at 7.50am.
The officers had taken the unusual step of clearing the use of the controversial Taser stun weapon before the arrest after assessing their suspect as potentially dangerous.
Seeing the weapon’s red laser dot appear on his chest as 20 officers ran towards him, the alleged dealer flung his arms in the air in surrender, and queuers around him scattered before he was wrestled to the ground.
Shocked bystanders described the swoop as “terrifying”. But later yesterday morning workers in nearby businesses confirmed that the post office was a well-known haunt. “I have been here six months and there is a queue there every morning, but they don’t seem to be buying stamps,” said Marjory Page, 41, a worker in a nearby hotel.
The New Journal observed 12 exchanges of what police allege are drugs take place outside the post office on two successive mornings this week before the raid went in.
Months of surveillance of the post office had confirmed complaints from residents and businesses that it had become a one-stop shop for crack and heroin users who went in with cheques and left with drugs, senior officers said.
Detective Superintendent Jeremy Burton said: “This operation has culminated from over eight weeks of extensive covert, intelligence-led police investigation which will cause significant disruption to those who deal in crack cocaine and heroin on Camden’s streets.
Our activity will not stop here and we will continue to tackle drugs in the borough.”
Two other men were arrested on Tuesday as detectives tackled what they describe as a class A drug market that has existed in the Russell Square area for several years.
The raid follows undercover operations in Bedford Square, the West End and Camden Town in the past two years, heavily funded by Camden Council in its bid to dispel the borough’s long-standing reputation for drugs.
• Donovan Shand, 42, and Orlando Allen, 32, both of no fixed abode, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Wednesday). Shand was charged with five offences of being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine. Allen was charged with four offences of supply.
– Gary Harvey, 33, was in custody last night and is due to appear before magistrates this morning (Thursday). |
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