More than 50 arrests made in five weeks in Ipswich with dangerous weapons and drugs seized by police

More than 50 arrests have been made in five weeks during a police operation in a Suffolk town with dangerous weapons and drugs seized.

A recent period of intensified enforcement and activity by police in Ipswich targeted serious crime and violence, with an increased focus on county lines and related youth gang violence.

There were 59 arrests made in the town between September 23 and October 25, with six people convicted while a further eight people were charged and remanded.

This includes 33 occasions where ‘drug offence’ was listed as the most serious crime (if there was more than one offence per arrest) and nine occasions where ‘violence offence’ was listed as the most serious offence.

A total of 23 warrants were executed, with 104 cuckoo checks carried out - cuckooing is a practice where people take over a person's home and use the property to facilitate exploitation and/or criminal activity.

Weapons seized included knives, an axe, a knuckle duster and a crossbow.

Recent activity following disorder in Ipswich on October 28, saw 10 people arrested on suspicion of violent disorder from October 28 to 31.

Superintendent Andy Martin said: “This period of activity has brought some excellent results in terms of arrests, charges and seizures.

“We know that the majority of crime takes place between individuals and groups known to each other who look to prosper through criminal activity and think little of the impact on others when their violence takes place on our streets.

“The number of arrests, disruption to drug dealing lines and the location of dangerous weapons should rightly be seen as a positive and forms part of our continued efforts to make Ipswich a hostile place for those responsible.

“This period of activity was set up to build on the successes already seen in the town in the past two years.”

In the southern policing area, which includes Ipswich, violence involving knife crime has reduced by 27 per cent (non-injury) and 28.2 per cent (with injury) from April 2023 to March 2024 in comparison to the previous year.

The figures for violence, where knives are not involved, have also dropped in the south, with a 6.5 per cent drop for incidents involving injury and an 8.2 per cent reduction where there was no injury reported.

Supt Martin said: “We are under no illusions that violent crime or drug dealing has gone away, or that we can afford to take our foot off the pedal and that is why periods of increased activity such as this are so important.

“We will continue to do all we can to keep our communities safe, protect people from serious harm and prevent crime.

“Our communities continue to play a vital role as we look to tackle those who look to spoil our county town and I must thank all of you that have supported us.

“As a result of the combined efforts of the constabulary, the community and our partners, additional pressure has been placed on criminal gangs and individuals who bring violence on to our streets, exploit vulnerable people and seek to profit from crime, preying on the misery of others.

He added: “Drug lines have been seized, weapons located and individuals arrested and charged. The message is clear, you are not welcome here and we will do all we can to identify, locate, arrest and prosecute you.”

As part of the period of action, an operation has been taking place alongside colleagues from the Metropolitan Police to target those involved in drug supply between Ipswich and Suffolk and the capital.

After involving officers from a number of units within Suffolk, including the constabulary’s Sentinel, Scorpion and Serious Crime Disruption teams, the operation saw 20 arrests made with 32 charges authorised and 16 drug lines disrupted.

Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “I fully support this dynamic, targeted approach being deployed in our county town and am very pleased to see such positive results.

“I hope this proactive enforcement sends out a clear message that criminals are not welcome in Suffolk.

“As I’ve said many times before, the constabulary cannot deal with these issues alone – so I am very pleased to see this multi-agency approach.”