| The head of the region’s drugs squad, Detective Inspector Campbell McGregor, was commenting on new research into the relationship between dealers across the country and the communities they exploit.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation report said dealers who were addicted to drugs themselves were bringing in an average of around £450 a week.
It claimed drug dealers can thrive in close-knit communities and the idea that they only inhabit fragmented, run-down areas was a misconception.
“During our recent Operation Perdita, we did recover sums of cash, say around £100, that they would say was from benefit or whatever,” said DI McGregor.
“At street-level, they might well be making £450. They’re not on the breadline.
“But then they are going to have to spend some money, investing it back into more drugs to sell and also because they consume the drugs themselves.”
The three-week Operation Perdita resulted in the recovery of nearly £18,000 of controlled drugs, almost all of which was heroin, and took scores of drug dealers off the streets.
It was focused at the lower end of the scale, targeting those whose activities bring undesirables and anti-social behaviour into communities.
Dealers further up the chain, moving heroin by the kilo rather than fractions of an ounce, tend to invest their income in property, said the detective.
Officers locally have had a focus on seizing cash from the trade as well as the drugs themselves, and have taken possession of sums in excess of £20,000.
The research published today also found that, across the country, children as young as 14 are being recruited to work shifts as drug dealers. The largest ever study of its kind involved interviews with 68 dealers, 800 residents and 120 police and other professionals.
DI McGregor said, “We haven’t had any instances here of teenagers around that age being used as drug runners. The youngest we have seen being involved in that is 17. |
