Trio arrested at children's play area over suspected drug dealing

Three men were arrested after police spotted a suspected drug deal at a Radford play area.

A patrolling officer in plain clothes was in Selhurst Court, Radford, when he noticed a group acting suspiciously at Kirkstead Street Playground.

The knife crime officer then witnessed a member of the public walk up to the group, seemingly to buy drugs.

Uniformed officers arrived moments later and searched three suspects who were still at the play area.

They were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs after a bundle of suspected crack cocaine and a suspected psychoactive substance were discovered.

The suspects – aged 20, 25 and 25 – were taken into custody for questioning following their arrests, which took place shortly after 11.20am on Wednesday (31 July).

Sergeant Matthew Daley, the plain-clothed officer who spotted the suspected drug deal, said:

“We regularly carry out plain-clothed patrols to gather intelligence and disrupt criminal and antisocial behaviour.

"On this occasion I didn’t have to wait long before coming across a suspected drug deal that resulted in three suspects being taken into custody.

"At the end of a long shift, the Prisoner Handling Team did a fantastic job in taking the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, ensuring one of the suspects was charged and remanded. 

"The two other suspects have been released on bail and our investigation will now continue."