Three arrests made and almost 50 Traffic Offence Reports issued during day of action

Three people were arrested, 70 wraps of cocaine were seized and 40 vehicles were stopped, during a multi-agency day of action in and around Ipswich last week.

The operation took place on Wednesday 27 March, with the aim of disrupting and frustrating the activities of criminals, including organised crime groups, who commit offences across county borders whilst using the road network.

Officers were also focused on all-round road safety and the fatal four offences of drink/drug driving, driving whilst using a mobile phone, speeding, and not wearing a seatbelt.

This was intelligence-led and involved vehicles identified as being potentially involved in criminality or committing offences being brought back to a check site at the Tesco truck stop, near to the A12/A14 Copdock Mill Interchange, where police and partner agencies conducted checks of the vehicles and occupants.

Anyone suspected of committing any of these offences was also stopped, along with people driving vehicles which were unroadworthy or had a defect. All of these actions serve towards making the county’s roads safer and reduce the likelihood of someone being killed or seriously injured by an illegally/unsafely driven or defective vehicle.

The Joint Roads and Armed Policing Team were assisted by officers from the Road Casualty Reduction Team, Commercial Vehicle Unit, Sentinel Team and Local Policing Team, along with police staff colleagues from the Modern Day Slavery Team and the Safety Camera Team.

Partner agencies present included the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC); Home Office Immigration Enforcement; Environment Agency; Babergh District Council; Suffolk County Council Trading Standards, East Suffolk Council (Taxi Licensing & Waste Enforcement), and CDER Group Debt Recovery.

Three people were arrested as follows:

• one on suspicion of possession of cocaine with intent to supply (read more here: Man charged with drug offences | Suffolk Constabulary)
• two on suspicion of drug-driving, one of whom was also arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs and driving whilst disqualified.

40 vehicles were escorted back to the site, with only six leaving clear of any offences and five vehicles were seized.

49 Traffic Offence Reports were issued, including: 12 for having an insecure load; 11 for tinted windows; five for no insurance; four for carriage of dangerous goods; four for no MOT; two for using a mobile phone; and two for not wearing a seatbelt.

The Safety Camera Team deployed to roads in the surrounding area, detecting a total of 57 speeding offences.

The DVSA issued eight immediate prohibitions - taking those vehicles off the road straight away – and three delayed prohibition. HMRC challenged 21 vehicles checking for illegal fuel and no offences were found; and CDER Group collected outstanding fines, totalling £3,446.   

Sergeant Richard Starkey, of the Roads and Armed Policing Team, said: “These days of action provide us with a great opportunity to detect vehicles with defects and remove unsafe vehicles from the roads, while also enforcing the ‘Fatal 4’ main causes of fatal or serious collisions.

“Another aim of these days is to identify anyone using the road network to commit more serious crimes, and so the arrest of someone on suspicion of possessing cocaine with intent to supply is particularly pleasing.

“The number of offending drivers or vehicles with defects was considerably lower than we have detected working from this location previously, which I hope is a sign that the messages of our regular road safety campaigns and days of action are beginning to get through to people.”