Newbury woman arrested on Churchill Way West on February 17 as part of Basingstoke drugs bust

A woman from Newbury is one of nine people who were arrested during a pre-planned drugs operation in Basingstoke.

Police officers from the Basingstoke Priority Crime Team, ANPR and Roads Policing Unit worked together to target high priority areas in the Basingstoke district between Thursday, February 15, and Sunday, February 18.

The officers involved were using specialised unmarked off-road motorbikes to patrol the designated areas and catch criminals in the act.

On Saturday, February 17, officers stopped a BMW on Churchill Way West.

Suspected Class A drugs were found inside the vehicle and two women and a man were arrested at the scene.

A 47-year-old woman from Newbury was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug and driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

A 37-year-old man from Basingstoke was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug and criminal damage to a property valued under £5,000.

A 24-year-old woman from Basingstoke was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug and possessing a controlled drug of Class B.

All three have been bailed with conditions until May 17 while police enquiries continue.

Meanwhile, officers stopped a Mercedes on Western Way on Friday, February 16.

Bags of suspected Class A drugs and cash was found inside the vehicle.

Two men, both aged 22, were arrested at the scene and one has since been charged with possession with intent to supply a controlled drug of Class A and acquiring/using/possessing criminal property.

Two other people were arrested on suspicion of drug driving offences and two others were arrested in relation to domestic abuse incidents.

As well as the arrests, officers carried out seven positive stop and searches, handed out three community resolutions for drugs offences and issued five traffic related tickets.

Police Sergeant Karla Leese, from the Basingstoke Priority Crime Team, said: “Our team continues to take drug-related harm and the impact it causes on the community extremely seriously.

“We ran a similar operation to this last month and I’m pleased to say last week’s operation was once again a success and led to the arrests of nine people over a five-day period.

“Once again, it was a collaborative effort involving a number of teams and I’m delighted we were able to use the force’s new off-road bikes.

“We have further planned weeks of action booked in which will help us continue our relentless pursuit of drug-related crime within the district.

“We want to make the area a hostile place for those who wish to commit drug-related crime and our message is simple – we will not tolerate this behaviour in Basingstoke.

“Please continue to tell us about any suspected drugs activity in your area so we can safeguard children and vulnerable adults and bring offenders to justice.”

Hampshire Police have advised anyone who wishes to make a report to contact them on 101 or make a report via their website at https://www.hampshire.police.uk/

Residents can also report crimes anonymously by contacting the charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via its website at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/