A man has been arrested after police found £3,000 worth of cannabis in a cemetery in Hull known to be rife with drug dealing.
Plainclothes officers were in Western Cemetery on Spring Bank West on Friday, August 5, when the man was arrested. He currently remains in custody.
Around £3,000 worth of cannabis in deal bags was uncovered. In a post shared by Humberside Police on social media, several small blue plastic bags containing the drugs could be seen stuffed inside a reusable Heron Foods bag.
Read more: Police say overgrown Hull crime hotspot is 'protected by conservation rules'
They said: "Plain clothes officers have been in Western Cemetery today and have one male in custody linked to drug supply. Further searches outcome in approximately £3,000 of cannabis in deal bags being recovered."
Police have said the spot has been on their radar for tackling drug-related crimes as they continue to execute warrants and patrol the area. Speaking at a Hull City Council area committee meeting, Humberside Police Inspector David Lonsdale said the cemetery was one of three "partnership priorities" for policing in the Avenues area of the city.
He said: "Drug-dealing there continues to be an issue for the local community and for us. It remains a focus for us and our partners.
"The location provides an ideal area (for drug-dealing) as it remains fully overgrown with foliage and so on so it lends itself as a good place for people to go in and hide out, carrying out activities as if they were behind closed doors.
"Alongside this, there are also a number of houses in multiple occupation and hostels in the area which offer provision for substance abusers which in itself can cause some challenges. Locally, the area also has a high footfall and a good night time economy.
"As a result, we are still continuing to work with our partners on improving the area to try to create that natural surveillance. We have got the open spaces manager from the council coming to visit the site soon and hopefully we will be able to come up with some more ideas in relation to environmental solutions. Unfortunately, the site foliage can't be cut back until September at the earliest due to conservation legislation.
"We continue to have patrols in the area to offer reassurance and also patch walks, particularly with our partners like Renew (the drug and alcohol treatment agency) to capture those not receiving the relevant courses of treatment. We have both uniform and non-uniform patrols in the area, conducting regular stop checks and stop searches.
"These have resulted in a number of warrants being executed in relation to some of those dealers in that location. We are still working with local health providers to take some responsibility for their occupants who frequent this area by identifying their service users and seeing if anything can be done by them to play a part in tackling the issues, potentially over tenancy arrangements."
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