9% rise in drug offences in Chesham over winter months

Police have been tackling dealers coming out of London

Author: Rory Butler, Local Democracy ReporterPublished 24th Mar 2021

A police operation to crack down on drugs has seen some London-based dealers put in the frame – as well as vehicles and large sums of cash seized as a result.

Thames Valley Police (TVP) said some people from the capital had been implicated in drug offences in Chesham in recent months, following an increase in efforts to stamp the problem out.

Chesham saw a nine per cent rise in drug offences between December 2020 and February 2021 when compared with the previous year, which the force attributes to increased operations.

Operation “GASPER” saw stop checks and searches, house searches, vehicles and cash seized, and numerous arrests made, with some suspects having “travelled from the London areas”, according to a council document.

“Many arrests have been made in Chesham for drug driving offences,” the report also states.

Although many cases are still ongoing, TVP said it is hopeful for some “positive results” soon.

“The Chesham team with support from other departments have recently conducted proactive operations in Chesham under the name GASPER,” a TVP spokesman said.

“In Chesham we conducted stop checks and searches, made numerous arrests, conducted house searches, seized vehicles, gained valuable intelligence and seized large quantities of cash.

“Some of the individuals that we have stopped have not been local and have travelled from the London areas.

“Although a lot of these arrests and investigations are still ongoing, we hope to see positive results soon.

“Some of the arrests include possession of drugs, concerned in the supply of drugs and drug driving.”

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.