POLICE FOLLOW UP DRUGS CRACKDOWN AT MARKET

POLICE in Sheffield have stepped up activity in the city centre to
prevent a crackdown on drug dealing in and around Sheffield's Castle
Market from simply moving the problem elsewhere.

A three-day operation last month aimed at tackling suspected dealers
working around the market led to 21 people being charged with
supplying Class A drugs, who have all appeared at Sheffield Magistrates' Court.

Police carried out 29 raids, over the three-day period at the end of
an operation in February.

Drug workers then patrolled the streets looking for addicts
struggling to find dealers and offering them places on treatment programmes.

It has not yet been revealed how many drug users took up the offer of
help to clean up their lives.

The Government-funded Drug Intervention Programme is assessing the
success of the initiative.

Inspector Neil Mutch, who covers the city centre, said: "We are
determined not to allow the problem to move elsewhere. We noticed
some drug activity on The Moor and made an immediate arrest to stamp it out."