82 arrested and cars, cash, guns and drugs seized in Kirklees Operation Greystoke

Mar 13 2010 by Sam Casey, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

MORE than 80 suspected dealers have been arrested in a two-week blitz on Kirklees’ drugs market.

More than 100 police have taken part in dawn raids across the district since March 1 as part of Operation Greystoke – set up to smash the class ‘A’ trade.

And police are confident the arrests have led to a staggering 700 crimes being solved.

They detained 82 suspects and seized nearly £100,000 in cash, £100,000-worth of suspected stolen cars and a range of weapons

including handguns.

Leading the operation was Det Ch Insp Phil Benson, who said: “The sheer scale of this operation shows the commitment we have to tackle criminals in Kirklees head on.

“Eighty-two of these suspects have had their collars well and truly felt over the past two weeks and as a result we have been able to detect over 700 recorded crimes.

“A further positive is that we have hit them hard in the pocket by relieving them of around £200,000 in cash and goods.

“This is cash we will be able to plough back into further police operations into organised crime and give back to community projects as we have done in the past.”

During the crackdown, heroin, cocaine and cannabis with an estimated street value of over £75,000 was seized.

Nine cars, including a top-of-the-range Range Rover, were confiscated.

They are believed to have been stolen during burglaries in Kirklees, Leeds and Bradford.

Suspects were arrested on suspicion of offences including dealing, handling stolen property, money laundering, robbery and burglary.

Many have already appeared in court.

It is the third phase of Operation Greystoke, following similar raids in November and January.