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NORTHERN CONSTABULARY TEAM UP WITH GRAMPIAN POLICE 24 January 04
IN MAJOR SHETLAND DRUGS SWOOP
A JOINT Police operation in Shetland has resulted in the seizure of controlled drugs with a street value of �25,000.  Around 25 officers, mainly from Northern Constabulary but including officers from Grampian, took part in the raids which all came under the banner of Operation Lapel.

Also used during the searches were drug detection dogs from the Shetland-based charity Dogs Against Drugs.   Large quantities of Heroin, Ecstasy tablets and Cannabis resin were recovered from various addresses in Lerwick at the end of a lengthy operation which spanned several months.

A large quantity of Cannabis resin was recovered from industrial premises in Lerwick on Tuesday January 20. On Wednesday January 21 a dealing quantity of heroin was recovered from an address in Lerwick and on Thursday January 22 drug dogs helped recover a large quantity of Heroin from another industrial premises in the town. The searches resulted in the largest ever seizures of heroin in Shetlands history.

Northern Constabulary worked closely with officers from Grampian Police in Aberdeen throughout the investigation which has resulted in 10 people being reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

The officer in charge of the investigation was Shetland-based Detective Sergeant Mark Mackay, who was assisted by Detective Inspector Murdo Fraser and other officers.

Shetland Area Commander, Chief Inspector Andrew Cowie, said: There is no doubt this is a significant seizure of controlled drugs and I would like to thank officers from both Northern Constabulary and Grampian Police for their efforts.  We will continue our fight against this menace to our society and work hard to bring these people and others like them to justice.

It is our intention to ensure Shetland remains a safe place to live and work.  He added: We continue to be interested to hear from anyone who may have information regarding the supply or misuse of illegal drugs and would urge people to contact us.

Information from the public is one of the key ingredients in tackling the supply of illegal drugs.  If anyone has any information they should contact Lerwick Police on 01595 741100 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.