Seven Arrested After Rochdale Police Drug's Raid

YESTERDAY, ROCHDALE ONLINE reported that seven people had been arrested after police executed warrants in Rochdale. Three warrants were executed on Taylor Street, Middleton, Blanche Street, Rochdale, and White Lees Road, Littleborough.

Four men - aged 22, 26, 35 and 42 - were arrested on suspicion of section 45 of the Serious Crime Act.

The men aged 22 and 42 were also held on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and the 26-year-old man was additionally arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply class A drugs.

A 23-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of possession of class A and class B drugs and section 45 of the Serious Crime Act.

All are now in police custody for questioning.

These new arrests follow other Rochdale arrests on the 28th, August in which three people were arrested after police executed warrants on Sykes Street and Hardwicke Street in Rochdale, as part of an investigation in to the supply of drugs in the Deeplish and Newbold areas. On that occasion Inspector Andrew Fern, of GMP's Rochdale district, said: "Enquiries are ongoing but the initial indication is that, this morning, officers seized class A drugs with an estimated street value of £900,000. Drugs blight communities so this is a really positive result."

It is worth noting that Newbold is recognised as a notorious 'hotspot' in a problematic district, and that the police have set up Operation Beehive to try to help the local communities there.

Inspector Andrew Fern said: "Investigations of this nature rely partly on intelligence from members of the public living in our communities so I would like to use this opportunity to appeal to anyone who thinks they may know something which may help us rid the streets of drugs to get in touch."

Earlier this year Northern Voices together with others had a meeting at Rochdale police station about the difficulties with regard to the Newbold district in which we raised our concerns about drugs and gangsterism.

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Not Just A Bit Of ‘Wacky-Baccy’ by Les May

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IT SEEMS that the chickens are finally coming home to roost for some Rochdale councillors. Perhaps now they will take seriously the threat of gangsterism in parts of the town.

Last autumn in a series of articles I drew attention to an attack by a hastily assembled gang in the Newbold area which left one young man with life changing injuries when his hand was hacked off by an axe wielding individual who, along with three compatriots, was later sent to prison.

I also published an ‘open letter’ which had been sent individually to all Rochdale councillors asking them to publicly condemn the attack which, although clearly a case of gangsterism, had racial overtones.

Only a few councillors were courteous enough to reply. All were happy to reassure me that they were not ‘racist’, but none were willing to go on record and condemn this attack and the gangsterism it entailed. This led me to conclude that it was reasonable to describe Rochdale Council as ‘institutionally racist’.

Ten months later we have a report that three people, two men and a woman, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. These are considered to be the most harmful and include heroin, methadone, cocaine (including crack cocaine), ecstasy, magic mushrooms and ‘crystal meth’. The arrests took place at addresses in Newbold and Deeplish.

As the estimated ‘street value’ of these drugs isn’t far from one million pounds, we are clearly not talking about a bit of ‘wacky-backy’ in a roll up under the canal bridge. A haul valued at £900,000 points to organised crime, and organised crime points to the involvement of a gang or gangs. With this kind of money involved it makes a mockery of the idea that one can blame the problems of these areas on ‘deprivation’.

If these arrests result in convictions I don’t think it is too much to ask that on this occasion councillors of all political stripes begin to take the problem of gangsterism seriously and say so.

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Not Just A Bit Of ‘Wacky-Baccy’ by Les May

IT SEEMS that the chickens are finally coming home to roost for some Rochdale councillors. Perhaps now they will take seriously the threat of gangsterism in parts of the town.

Last autumn in a series of articles I drew attention to an attack by a hastily assembled gang in the Newbold area which left one young man with life changing injuries when his hand was hacked off by an axe wielding individual who, along with three compatriots, was later sent to prison.

I also published an open letter which had been sent individually to all Rochdale councillors asking them to publicly condemn the attack which, although clearly a case of gangsterism, had racial overtones.

Only a few councillors were courteous enough to reply. All were happy to reassure me that they were not ‘racist’, but none were willing to go on record and condemn this attack and the gangsterism it entailed. This led me to conclude that it was reasonable to describe Rochdale Council as institutionally racist.

Ten months later we have a report that three people, two men and a woman, were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. These are considered to be the most harmful and include heroin, methadone, cocaine (including crack cocaine), ecstasy, magic mushrooms and ‘crystal meth’. The arrests took place at addresses in Newbold and Deeplish.

As the estimated ‘street value’ of these drugs isn’t far from one million pounds, we are clearly not talking about a bit of ‘wacky-backy’ in a roll up under the canal bridge. A haul valued at £900,000 points to organised crime, and organised crime points to the involvement of a gang or gangs. With this kind of money involved it makes a mockery of the idea that one can blame the problems of these areas on ‘deprivation’.

If these arrests result in convictions I don’t think it is too much to ask that on this occasion councillors of all political stripes begin to take the problem of gangsterism seriously and say so.

Zero Tolerance and Simon Danczuk

By Les May

SIMON Danczuk’s remarks about beggars in Rochdale town centre, or as he would have it 'aggressive’ beggars, has predictably provoked quite a lot of moral outrage.

But to what extent can they be regarded merely as ‘alternative facts’?  Fortunately we don’t have to look far to get a picture of the reality of life for those who drink and/or beg in our streets.  And who better to provide it for us than Simon himself? 

Simon sees himself as something of an ‘expert’, because he was involved in research which was published by the homelessness charity ‘Crisis’ in 2000.  Now I have read his research, and I don’t think his recent comments can be said to follow from the data he collected.

In particular he seems to be promoting a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to begging, to be downplaying the lack of both overnight accommodation and the support needed to get people off the streets, and overemphasising the role of drug addiction. A dangerous ploy for someone who has admitted to the use of Ecstasy and Cannabis, and seems to have significant knowledge of the effects of alcohol.   

A memorandum submitted to the Home Affairs Committee by ‘Crisis’ in 2005 said:

‘Begging and street homelessness constitute two overlapping parts of a broader homelessness problem, "research from across England—including Manchester, Brighton, Leeds, Blackpool, Bristol, Chester, Leicester, Westminster, Woolwich and Luton has consistently found that the vast majority people begging are homeless".'

So what did Crisis have to say about Simon’s report?

This:

'It is the contention of the report that reliance upon police enforcement policies such as zero tolerance schemes are an inappropriate response to a complex problem' and 'Of all those surveyed, just over half had slept rough the previous night and four in five where vulnerably housed.'

Do I detect a shift to the right?  Or is it just that Simon’s own addiction is to self publicity?

You can find both the original report and the summary at the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_facts

http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/Walk%20on%20By%20%28summary%29.pdf 

http://www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/document_library/research/walkonby_full.pdf 

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmhaff/80ii/80we15.htm