TWELVE people - including a 12-year-old boy - were arrested following an action day in Barnsley.
Police teams across South Yorkshire supported officers in Barnsley on Wednesday to execute warrants and arrests simultaneously across the district as part of Operation Duxford.
Within a few hours of leaving the police station on Churchfield, six warrants were executed at addresses in Cudworth and the town centre in connection to class A drugs and organised crime.
Following a warrant at Everlin Street in Cudworth, a 20-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to supply after officers located a large hold all filled with what is believed to be ketamine.
Also in the property was dried cannabis, believed to be ready for sale.
Other arrests on the morning included a 30-year-old man on suspicion of money laundering, a 27-year-old man on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon, a 46-year-old man on suspicion of domestic abuse, a 43-year-old man for failing to appear and a 12-year-old boy on suspicion of robbery.
In Cudworth alone they were able to recover 457 grams of ketamine, 49 dealer bags containing ketamine and 43 dealer packs containing cannabis - a further search warrant in the area led to the recovery of £7,000 in cash and an arrest for money laundering.
Beyond the search warrants, officers on the day stopped 16 vehicles, checked eight waste carriers and recovered two abandoned vehicles, while a further seven were given statutory seven-day warning notices.
On top of this, officers were reaching out to members of the community with stands set up at the Glass Works, Poundland in Wombwell, Tesco at Stairfoot and Penistone as well as a foot patrol in Dodworth.
They engaged with more than 1,000 people across the borough and handed out 600 leaflets.
Superintendent Emma Wheatcroft said on the morning: “We always welcome the officers and teams from across the force joining us in Barnsley as part of Operation Duxford to tackle the issues that matter the most to our communities.
“Those believed to be involved in crime may have already had an early morning wake-up call from officers who have been executing warrants for class A drugs and those linked to organised crime.
“Within less than an hour following our briefing, we already had prisoners in our custody for money laundering and theft of vehicles.
“Throughout the rest of the day, teams will be focusing on protecting our most vulnerable and carrying out property checks to ensure criminals are not exploiting them and their homes.”
