Customs, the Prison Service, the Alcohol and Drugs Service, Probation and the Law Officers’ Department are all involved, and meetings with schools are due to be held next week.
Cocaine, MDMA and cannabis worth up to £24,000 have been seized since Sunday as well as £15,000 in cash as part of a probe codenamed Operation Shark.
Twelve raids have taken place so far and 14 suspects have been arrested. Two men have been charged with possession with intent to supply and have been remanded in custody.
More officers have been seconded to the force’s undercover unit – the Priority Crime Team – to help gather intelligence and target dealers. During the week, 40 new intelligence reports – information on suspected drug activity – have been logged.
Uniformed officers have been tasked with engaging with the public and briefed to use their stop and search powers.
The operation was launched after the death of James Le Bourgeois (19) following a suspected reaction to the class-A drug MDMA last weekend. Chief Inspector Mark Hafey (pictured), who is leading the operation, said he wanted dealers to be ‘paranoid’ and warned the force was ready to ‘turn their worlds upside down’ but he stressed that arresting criminals was only part of the solution.
‘We could have not announced this operation and maybe there is the argument that by doing so, we have made drug-dealers aware of our actions. But this operation is bigger than just making arrests. That is our job and that is what we do. We make arrests, seize drugs and cash and gather intelligence but this is about more than that.
‘We care more about public safety and saving lives. Announcing this operation is education, it’s making the public aware. We don’t want anyone else to lose their life.’
He added: ‘MDMA can be dangerous. Users don’t know what’s in it, what it’s cut with. It can only take one tablet to cause serious harm or death.’
The so-called war on drugs has been heavily criticised across the UK, Europe and America by commentators who argue that, by making drugs illegal, it fuels a black market that benefits gangs, drives up prices, contributes to other crime and impacts public health.
Chief Insp Hafey said he recognised that there was a certain attitude towards drug use among some sections of the public but said using or dealing drugs was against the law.
‘We don’t want to criminalise young people and that is where the parish-hall system comes into play in dealing with young people and first-time offenders so they don’t end up with a criminal record.
‘We will not tolerate drugs supply in our community. The people at the top of these networks seek to make profits from causing misery to vulnerable people in our Island.’
A Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary report criticised the police for its intelligence-gathering regarding organised crime. The force has mapped 11 organised crime groups with links to Jersey and says the Island will always be a target because of high street prices here.
Of the drugs seized, there was about £6,000 of cocaine, £6,000 of cannabis and £12,000 of MDMA. The drugs are still subject to laboratory tests and their strengths are unknown.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact the force on 612612 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 5551111.
