Nearly 70 drug dealers have been arrested as part of Operation Talon – a huge crackdown on Class A drug supply in Cardiff

 

During the 8-month covert operation, dealers were caught selling crack cocaine, heroin and ketamine on the streets of Adamsdown, Butetown, Cathays, Canton, Grangetown,  Splott and the city centre.

 

Up to 300 drug deals were seized along with £53k cash, 125 mobile phones, and a range of weapons.

 

Of the 69 arrested, 64 have been charged and 44 are already serving custodial sentences amounting to more than 117 years.

 

Detective Inspector Grant Wilson, who led the operation, said: “Operation Talon was launched as a direct response to concerns raised by the community about visible drug dealing on a daily basis which was effecting their quality of life.

 

“Undercover officers were deployed in areas such as the city centre, Butetown and Grangetown, where they found an open market for drug dealing.

 

“The feedback from the local community following the operation has been fantastic. One member of the public approached a PCSO in the street to say that “Butetown is unrecognisable”.

 

“We are not naïve, we know that drug dealing is still taking place, but this operation has made a significant impact on that blatant dealing that communities were describing to us.”

 

Undercover officers were deployed between August 2019 and March 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic began, and the arrest phase followed in July 2020.

 

Incidents of note during the operation included:

 

• A quarter of kilo of crack cocaine seized after being through out of window of a flat in Riverside during a drugs warrant.
• A high-risk missing 15-year-old girl was found at an address in Riverside having been trafficked down from London. She was taken home safe and well to her parents.
• £14k cash found at the Roath home at a city centre drug dealer.
• Two County Lines from Birmingham and London dismantled.

 

DI Wilson added: “The results are testament to the dedication of every single officer involved in Operation Talon but does not end there.

"The next stage of Operation Talon is making sure procedures are in place for when these individuals come out of prison.

“We will make it as difficult as possible for them to re-establish themselves by working with the Probation Service and Housing Providers.

“This is not a one-off – identifying, disrupting and arresting drug dealers who operate in our local communities remains a daily priority for us.”