Major and organised crime teams rack up results

Nearly 400 people have been arrested and more than a quarter-of-a-million-pounds-worth of drugs have been seized in the last 12 months as part of Operation Target.

Launched in 2023, the operation is part of our ongoing commitment to go after groups and individuals responsible for high-harm crimes, including county lines drug distribution, illegal firearms activity, modern slavery and cyber-crime.

Major and organised crime proactive officers in the north and south of the county continue to work relentlessly to gather and act on intelligence, carrying out stop searches and targeting offenders in pre-planned operations and proactive warrants.

Between July 2024 and July 2025 they have:

• Arrested 386 people
• Seized 10kg of class A drugs, worth somewhere in the region of £250,000
• Seized 30kg of class B drugs worth around £160,000
• Seized £240,000 cash, which is subject to the Proceeds of Crime Act
• Recovered 40 weapons, including two firearms.

Their actions, and those of the officers and staff who work alongside them, have also resulted in offenders being jailed for a combined total of 40 years.

Between October 2024 and January this year, six men were locked up and three drug lines shut down following work by officers to disrupt organised gangs fuelling the supply of illegal substances in Staffordshire.

It came after we forced entry and searched 10 separate addresses in simultaneous raids in Burton-on-Trent in April 2024. We found £20,000-worth of heroin and crack cocaine and mobile phones linked to dealing.

The men were jailed for a combined total of 25-years-and-two-months.

The raids came in the wake of months of proactive work by officers, including from the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU).

In May this year, three drug dealers were jailed for a combined 12-and-a-half years after admitting their involvement in the supply of cocaine from a house in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, where officers found £47,000 inside a rucksack.

The discovery came after those investigating the gang stopped a black Ford Fiesta near junction 9 on the southbound carriageway of the M6 in June last year.

In July this year, a man was locked up for five years after we found crack cocaine and heroin behind a child's bed.

It came after proactive officers saw him involved in a drug deal on a Cannock street.

Head of major and organised crime, Superintendent Victoria Downing, said: “These results are down to the ongoing hard work and commitment of our proactive teams in identifying offenders, going after them relentlessly and, crucially, getting results.

“Persistence is paying off and the work of all those involved is without doubt helping to make our communities safer – and will continue to do so.”