Huge police operation sees dozens jailed for running heroin and crack cocaine into Chesterfield

Operation Blofeld – named after the shadowy Bond villain - saw hundreds of officers involved, starting with an undercover intelligence gathering operation on the gangs in the town – before, over the course of four weeks in 2022, 60 people were arrested in targeted raids across the four counties.

Alongside the arrests officers seized £73k in cash, machetes, tasers and pepper spray, along with significant amounts of crack, heroin, cocaine, and cannabis.

Such was the weight of evidence collected by the team most of the 49 gang members convicted for their parts in the dealing pleaded guilty during court hearings throughout 2023 to their parts in the dealing – with sentences so far reaching 121 years in jail for 45 of the members.

Detective Inspector Simon Cartwright, who led the investigation as a sergeant in the OCG team, said: “Operation Blofeld was one of the largest, most concentrated pieces of work targeting County Lines drug gangs that the county has ever seen.

“The work the team did, led by officer in the case DC Andrew Ryans, was outstanding. It saw nine county lines gangs dismantled and violent crime rates dropped in the areas where the gangs were operating. The community also reacted positively to the work with increased reporting into the force about drug crimes and anti-social behaviour.”

The team also worked closely with partner agencies to help ensure that, after the gangs had been removed, that further work was done to help ensure they did not return.

That partnership work saw seven people referred into the National Referral Mechanism under concerns they had been victims of Modern Slavery.

DC Andrew Ryans, said: “Sometimes it can be a case of whack-a-mole when it comes to targeting drugs gangs – as soon as you remove one then you find that another springs up in its place.

“During this operation we worked closely with partners to ensure that when a warrant was undertaken that follow up action was taken to ensure that those drug users were given support – and that the local community could feel confident in coming forward with information.

“The message to the community was clear – if you come to us with information then we will take action – and that was clearly heard. And the message to the drug dealers was also clear – it doesn’t matter where you are based, we will do everything in our power to find you and bring you to justice.”

Councillor Jonathan Davies, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “It’s really positive that so many arrests were made during Operation Blofeld - preventing the sale of the drugs locally and protecting the community.

“We do not tolerate drug dealing, and we continue to support Derbyshire Constabulary to crack down on it. I urge anyone who thinks drug dealing may be happening in their community to report it as soon as possible. Even the slightest bit of information could help to protect people and prevent drugs being sold.”