£10,000 in cash and drugs seized during ongoing work to clear the Meadows of drug dealers

Officers seized a quantity of drugs and around £10,000 in cash as part of their ongoing battle to remove dealers from the Meadows.

Police smashed through the front door of a property in Eugene Gardens just after 7.30am on Wednesday 12 July.

They arrested a 39-year-old woman and two teenagers, aged 17 and 19, on possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

Officers carried out an extensive search of the house and found two bulk wraps of white powder believed to be cocaine and amphetamine.

They also seized quantities of cannabis, deal bags, a lock knife and combat knife and multiple mobile phones.

This is part of ongoing work to remove any dealers thinking of setting up drug operations in the Meadows.

Officers want to ensure “the drugs void in the Meadows isn’t filled” after nine gang members were jailed following the murder of Michael Anton O’Connor.

Michael, known to many as Anton, was attacked outside a property in Wilford Crescent West, the Meadows, shortly after 10.20pm on 10 November 2021.

The 31-year-old, from Alexandra Park, died at the Queen’s Medical Centre after police found him collapsed on the pavement.

A subsequent police investigation found the murder was the culmination of a drug war which had broken out between two rival organised crime groups – each vying for control of the local drugs market.

Anton was well-known and well-liked in the area and was tasked with calming tensions between the two gangs.

However, his killers mistook him for their intended target, a Nottingham drugs kingpin, and it cost Michael his life.

Nine gang members were jailed for a total of more than 260 years following a lengthy court case.

The warrant in Eugene Gardens on Wednesday is just one of many that has taken place in the area in recent weeks.

Other warrants have also been carried out in Orange Gardens, Meredith Close, Royston Close, Middle Furlong Gardens, Hawthorne Close and Causeway Mews.

Sergeant Tim Register, from Operation Reacher, said: “We won’t stop and will continue to target anyone who thinks they can come to the Meadows or live in the Meadows and start filling the drugs void that now exists.

“We will continuously work with our residents and community partners to ensure they can live in peace without all the violence that drug crime produces.

“We won’t just be putting in your door, we will be taking away everything we think is linked to the sale of drugs, which can include your valuables and cash.

“Anyone in the Meadows who thinks there is drug dealing happening on their street, please do get in touch by calling 101. It will be handled in the strictest confidence and we will act on any intelligence we get.”