Sussex Police said that it seized drugs and made arrests in a series of raids just days before the annual Brighton Pride parade and party.
The force said: “Sussex Police, alongside officers from Merseyside Police’s Project Medusa team, have carried out a number of county line drug warrants in Brighton and Hastings.
“On Tuesday 23 July, Wednesday 24 July and Thursday 25 July, officers carried out warrants and searches across Brighton and Hastings.”
Sussex Police said that the aim was disrupting the supply of illegal drugs before Brighton Pride – on Saturday 3 August and Sunday 4 August – as well as other events taking place over the summer.
Officers worked with the Merseyside Police Project Medusa team which regularly deploys alongside other police forces to target criminality.
The team was set up in 2019 to tackle county lines drug dealing and the criminal exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults.
On Tuesday 23 July, a warrant was executed in the Brighton area which led to the arrest of a 29-year-old man, from Brighton, on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class B drugs. Cannabis was seized.
On Wednesday 24 July, searches took place in the Brighton and Saltdean areas. A 36-year-old man, from Brighton, was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A and class B drugs.
Officers seized mushrooms – commonly known as magic mushrooms – cannabis, cannabis edibles and cannabis vapes.
On Thursday 25 July, officers searching the Hastings area arrested a 16-year-old local boy on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class B drugs. Cannabis and vapes were seized by officers.
All three have been released on bail, pending further investigation.
Detective Sergeant Mark Pinder, from Sussex Police, said: “This operation is very important in the lead up to a very busy summer period to ensure we disrupt county drug lines.
“The joint operation between Sussex and Merseyside’s Project Medusa team was a success.
“We take this extra step every year to ensure not only festival goers but local residents are safe from any drug crime and this year was no different.”
Detective Sergeant Kieran Connolly, from Merseyside Police, said: “This joint operation with Sussex Police resulted in three arrests and a significant amount of class A and B drugs seized across the city ahead of Pride next weekend.
“The results from this joint operation showcase the success of working together with other forces to tackle drug supply and remove illegal drugs from circulation.
“We are working hard alongside colleagues from other forces to take drugs off our streets. This activity forms part of Sussex’s wider operation to ensure everyone has a safe weekend celebrating Brighton Pride.”
Ridiculous waste of time and money. Chasing and persecuting people over something that should have been legalized a decade ago. Pursue real crime and stop wasting everyones time with this pointless bragging.
Until it is though, it is still illegal and should be treated as the crime it is. I understand that you don’t like this, but unfortunately, that is the law currently.
Legalisation, that’s a whole different topic, one I have mixed views about.
Not just that, the government could tax cannabis if regulated – instead of wasting money and resources prosecuting something so harmless.
Good work. There’s a lot of telltale signs around where dealers are in Brighton, and whilst we Joe Public will never know the strategic approach to how it is being handed, it’s important to know that things are being done.
Basic communication skills would inform you that if you leave people with a gap in knowledge, it will get filled up with the worst case scenario.
Every year just before pride the police do a big drug bust and this will be the last we hear anything about it pity the police won’t do anything about the open drug taking that’s going on in the streets of Brighton and Hove
So many young gays dying of Tina in Brighton good job guys
It saddens me greatly that today’s youth know enough to reject political manipulation and society’s shackles of conformity and enslavement, yet dance into the support and financing of drug cartels guilty of human slavery, trafficking, indiscriminate murder and creating addictions that destroy lives.
I seriously don’t understand the hypocrisy.
People’s ethical and moral boundaries are different, I guess. With enough degrees of separation as well, it’s less at the forefront. I see the parallel arguement being made with veganism vs meat eaters.
There’s also the addiction side of things as well, which further confounds.
interesting parallel with veganism. I’m going to ponder on that one.