Police chief hails success of Wrexham drug dealing crackdown as offenders face more than 100 years in prison

A POLICE chief has hailed the success of a bid to tackle drug dealing in Wrexham after criminals were sentenced to more than 100 years in prison in the last 12 months.

The supply of illegal substances has been identified as one of the biggest issues in the area by North Wales Police.

It follows longstanding concerns about people openly taking the synthetic drug Spice in the town centre.

Wrexham chief inspector Mark Williams said the impact of new psychoactive substances had been “devastating”.

However, in an update to community leaders, he said the police force had secured significant jail sentences against those responsible for selling them.

He said: “Drug dealing is an issue affecting the whole county and is a targeted approach has been adopted to pursue those involved.

“Wrexham has seen great success in targeting offenders for supplying drugs with more than 100 years of prison sentences given out in the last twelve months alone.

“These suppliers have been involved in the supply of class A and B drug and importantly the supply of the new psychoactive substance (NPS) drugs which have previously had such a devastating impact on the town centre.”

Concerns were voiced after a special taskforce set up to tackle the use of Spice on the streets of Wrexham was disbanded in April last year

The efforts of the gold group, which included police, health and council officials, were praised after a care hub was created to allow people to quickly access support for housing and rehabilitation.

But chief inspector Williams said it had since been taken on by members of the Wrexham Community Safety Partnership, with “positive engagement work” carried out by PCSOs in the town centre

He also provided details of efforts to deal with county lines drug gangs, who exploit children and vulnerable adults to push drugs from big cities into smaller towns.

He said: “County lines is still active in Wrexham but a programme of education rolled out in schools, colleges and the university has had a positive impact.

“We are seeing greater awareness of the issue from partner agencies which results in early opportunities to safeguard vulnerable people in our communities.

“This positive action has resulted in a reduction in county lines activity in recent months.”

The report will be discussed by members of Wrexham Council’s safeguarding, communities and well-being scrutiny committee at a meeting on Wednesday .

By Liam Randall – Local Democracy Reporter