Llanelli drugs warrants

DYFED-Powys Police carried out eight warrants in Llanelli in one day, acting on concerns over drugs and antisocial behaviour in the community.

The force has also issued statistics around crime in the Glanymor ward to allay worries from members of the community.

A day of action took place on Tuesday, April 9, with neighbourhood officers, Integrated Offender Management unit, problem solving teams and the dog unit taking to the Glanymor and Seaside areas.

A team of 20 officers targeted homes in Clos Dewi Medi, New Dock Road, Waddle Court, Als Street and Pantycelyn.

Substances including unprescribed dihydrocodeine tablets, diazepam tablets, pregablin tablets, cannabis, a small quantity of heroin, and a brown powder suspected of being crushed psychedelic mushrooms were seized.

Four people present at the addresses attended Llanelli police station to be interviewed. Enquiries are ongoing, and officers are awaiting the results of forensic testing on the seized substances.

Llanelli Inspector Bleddyn Jones, who coordinated the day of action, said: “We are aware of concerns about the presence of drugs in Llanelli – and in particular the Glanymor ward – which have increased following a recent public meeting and subsequent media headlines.

“We would like to reassure people living in the area that we are acting on all the information that we are given as quickly as possible.

“A lot of the work we carry out goes on behind the scenes, and through both proactive work and enquiries carried out on the back of intelligence submitted from the public, we are consistently disrupting the supply of drugs in the area.

“We can confirm that none of the warrants carried out today were linked to County Lines.”

The Glanymor ward is one of Llanelli’s most densely populated wards, and includes the Seaside area, where a recent public meeting was held for members of the community to discuss their concerns over drugs and antisocial behaviour.

Inspector Jones has issued statistics from the ward, which is one of the five making up the Llanelli town area, for the past three months (January to March 2019) to offer context around the level of crime and antisocial behaviour.

Of the 68 crimes of drug possession recorded across Llanelli town over three months, 16 – or 23.5 per cent – were in Glanymor, six of which were in Seaside**. The majority of proactive warrants – 72 per cent – carried out by police in Llanelli town took place in Glanymor, which goes some way to account for the level of drugs possession crimes in the area.

Of 310 violent crimes (with or without injury) recorded in Llanelli town, 61 – or 19.7 percent – were in the Glanymor ward, and just seven took place in Seaside.

Of the 289 antisocial behavious crimes recorded in Llanelli town, 49 – or 17 per cent – took place in Glanymor, with 18 recorded in Seaside.

Inspector Jones said: “I would like to be transparent with our communities, and hopefully these figures will go some way to show that crime in Llanelli is not centred around Glanymor or the Seaside area.

“A lot of proactive work has been carried out in the area – and a closure order that was put in place on a property in Catherine Street is already having a positive effect in reducing the supply of drugs in the area.

“Having said that, if there are further concerns from within the community, we would encourage people to come to us so we can discuss them, and hopefully come to a solution.”