Behind the scenes with the Met’s heroin drug hunters that fight to keep drugs off our streets

How do police catch Class A drug dealers?

Dawn had only just started to break when 10 officers bundled out of a police van and rushed in to a top floor flat.

The West London apartment block was silent as residents slept – until a weapon nicknamed ‘The Enforcer’ busted down the door of a suspected drug dealer.

It took less than 10 seconds for every member of the uniformed officers to enter his flat a he stumbled out of bed tired and confused.

He was arrested, bundled into the back of the police van, and arrested on suspicion of intent to supply Class A drugs.

But this raid was not months, weeks or even days in the making.

Instead, the team from Operation Yamata pulled off the arrest with less than 24 hours notice. And it was around their third one that week.

PCI Erin Kerr told Metro: ‘The team work long, anti-social hours because they want to catch heroin dealers to stop them destroying people’s lives.

‘It is devastating watching loved ones become caught up class A drugs, which is why we focus perusing the perpetrators.’

But how did they do it? Here’s how it unfolded when Metro was invited along.

Investigation

It truly takes a village to sniff out and catch those suspected of dealing heroin and crack.

The Investigation Team make up the people who are able to lead the search and operation, while the Disruption Team are focused only on forcing entry to the property.

But this only scratches the surface of the amount of man power involved.

PCI Kerr said: ‘There are a lot of staff working in the background, a lot of which I am not able to reveal.

‘But we work with analysts, and people in intelligence and analytical roles.’

Other policing units also approach the team to try and help solve their own crimes, including missing persons cases.

‘A lot of times the suspect is already known to police for various violent crimes, including domestic abuse,’ PCI Kerr said.

‘We have had teams looking for missing children ask for our help, and they were found in a flat cutting up drugs for a gang.’

Planning

Preparing for the raid itself depends hugely on the time of the year.

During the summer, when it gets lighter earlier, the team are not able to rely on the cover of darkness to sneak up to the flat.

This is made worse if they are having to move through a built up estate with tall buildings.

‘All it takes is one neighbour to see us coming,’ PCI Kerr said. ‘If they are friends with the suspect, they can ring and warn them while we are having to climb up five flights of stairs.

‘We stand out like a sore thumb.’

Preparing for the raid is harder during the summer

Investigators try to make sure they know whether their would be any children in the property before they go in.

If so, they bring a safeguarding officer whose sole job is to look after the job – but the raid must continue.

‘Due to the nature of the crime we still need to carry out the raid, but we do try and be mindful of whether there are any vulnerable people in the property,’ PCID Kerr said.

Preparing for the raid means ensuring all exits, windows, vehicles are covered so nothing in quickly discarded of.

‘We can often get people just chucking things out the window if they see us coming,’ PCI Kerr said.

‘But we make sure everything like that is thought through, and we have people covering all bases.’

The raid

The raid themselves mean an early start for all involved, with most beginning around 4am.

Those in the disruption team are covered head-to-toe in protective gear, including helmets and visors.

Investigators comb through the house afterwards

They bring ‘The Enforcer’ with them, which forces open the suspects front door.

But they also have to bring a lock fixing kit, to make sure the property is not left unsecured after they leave.

After the suspect is searched and arrested, the residence is combed through to make sure nothing is missed.

PC Kevin McLean told Metro: ‘It’s a matter of searching the property and getting everything bagged up.

‘This includes mobile phones, which immediately helps cement the case as it can prove they were managing a drug line.’

Although they often have to deal with neighbours trying to intervene, families can be surprisingly supportive.

Users are then diverted to addict support networks

PCI Kerr said: ‘Around half the time family members are there for the raid they seem supportive of what we are doing.

‘But other times they can definitely frustrate what we are trying to do. So we have to explain it is not our choice we are here – it’s because we think their loved one is selling heroin to addicts.’

What happens after?

After the arrest and the case hits the courts, users buying the drugs off of the suspects are left vulnerable.

They may begin to go through withdrawals, or turn to other dealers with different drug measurements, increasing the risk of an overdose.

So, the team try and make sure they are not left not knowing where to turn.

PCI Kerr said: ‘Once we access the phone they were using to sell, we send a text to all the contacts saying “This drug line has now been closed by police” and we direct them to addiction recovery support.

‘A few years ago, users would be arrested by police but addicts need a compassionate response.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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