Its been a busy period of time for South Wales Police as they ramp up activities against the illicit trade in cannabis, in the run up to the reclassification of the class C substance, which is set to come into force early in 2009.
Over the last 10 day period police in the region have seized around £1.5 million worth of cannabis resin which, according to police officers, was destined for distribution in our communities.
Clearly the M4 motorway is playing a significant role in this distribution network, as two seizures in particular illustrate all too clearly. (Perhaps we ought to ban it?)
Brynmenyn Industrial Estate is a "nothing out of the ordinary" industrial area just like many others in the region, which sprang up as a result of the coal mines the region used to be famous for shutting down.
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Situated alongside the M4 east/west artery which links the region with Bristol, Oxford, London and the British Motorway network beyond, it is ideally situated for the onward distribution of commodities the region used to be famous for, such as steel and coal.
But over the last two decades, heavy industry has all but left the area (some would say "been pushed out") leaving literally 10's of thousands of people without jobs and during a political and economic climate which has little in the way of good news to offer the local population, its fair to say a market as large and as bouyant as the illicit trade in cannabis may well be deemed too good an opportunity to miss. And so it would seem.
October 1st saw the arrest of two local men as Police Officers from the Bridgend Police Headquarters together with members of the all-important Regional Asset Recovery Team undertook a raid on a business premises situated on Brynmenyn Industrial Estate.
At 9:20 am police served two search warrents at the premises in Millers Avenue, Brynmenyn Industrial Estate and as a result cannabis resin worth an estimated £500,000 was siezed and the men, aged 19 and 44, were taken into custody.
Superintendent Tim Jones, divisional commander for Bridgend, said: “This is a significant find which I am in no doubt will have an impact on the distribution of illegal drugs in the borough.
“Our aim is to continue to make Bridgend an uncomfortable place for drug dealers and hopefully this recent significant seizure will send a clear message to anyone thinking of dealing drugs, storing drugs or cultivating drugs here that they will be targeted.
Wednesday October 9th saw another large cannabis resin seizure, but this time at the other end of the M4 motorway.
South Wales Police acting on intelligence, recovered 300kg of cannabis resin from a car at the westbound services on the M4 motorway at Reading. A 44-year-old man was arrested during the operation.
The man, who was from the Cardiff area, was arrested at the services on suspicion of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs. As of yesterday he was still in custody in the city.
The haul is thought to be worth £1 million.
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Benson-Davison, of South Wales Police Special Operations, said: “Intelligence suggests this cannabis was destined for our communities in South Wales. This is a very significant seizure which sends a message that we will not tolerate controlled drugs of any kind here."
Canna Zine Comment South Wales Police today said that tackling all controlled drugs is an ongoing priority for the force, and as well they would, but are the South Wales Police actually "controlling" the flow of drugs into our communities? The truth is, they're not.
In fact none of the "menu" of drugs available in any Bridgend pub on a Friday or Saturday night are truly controlled. Not even nearly, and in light of the large cannabis resin seizure which was reported at Brynmenyn Industrial Estate I decided to do some "market research" to find out if this major seizure had impacted the local markets in illicit drugs. What I found out was truly sobering.
Not only is there plenty of cannabis resin on the streets in Bridgend, (£25 per half ounce) and herbal "skunk" cannabis (£20 baggies), but there are also plenty of people who are selling a lot more besides and after making only two phone-calls I was able to provisionally order not only cannabis in £10 deals, but cocaine (£10), heroin (starting at £5 a deal), ecstasy at £1 per tablet, as well as a selection of prescription drugs which would grace a medium sized pharmacy. These included Valium, Ritalin and Tramadol.
Going back to what Superintendent Tim Jones, divisional commander for Bridgend, said: “This is a significant find which I am in no doubt will have an impact on the distribution of illegal drugs in the borough."
But the harsh fact is, it didn't make a blind bit of difference to the availability of drugs in Bridgend, nor will it in the future, but I guess it looks good on statistics for the area and that, I guess, is the most important point to come out of this.
The fact is they can't stop drugs in an enclosed situation like a prison, so what chance do they have in controlling drugs in our communities?
Absolutely none whatsoever, and in the meantime Welsh hospitals are using cleaners to feed patients while we're spending unjustifiable sums of money on fighting an unwinnable war (and I don't mean Afghanistan).
But if the 4million plus citizens who choose cannabis over alcohol or tobacco, were allowed to supply themselves as they are in Holland the fact is there would be no market for all that cannabis resin, or for any illicit cannabis trade.
But the government (and a high percentage of the police) already know this.
Which makes you wonder then why cannabis remains illegal?
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