7 people from the Bridgend area were arrested this weekend following a successful operation by South Wales Police.

The police swoop, known as Operation Abacus, was a pre-planned operation that saw over 30 officers hit the streets of Bridgend town centre on Saturday, February 7th in a bid to stamp out substance misuse and alcohol-related crime.

Led by Acting Inspector Steve Rees of the Bridgend Division of South Wales Police, the first phase of the operation saw officers executing a drugs warrant on a licensed premise in the Bridgend area.

Using state of the art drug itemiser equipment worth £30,000, officers later worked in cooperation with the door staff and licensees of Barracuda Bar and The Littern Tree to test customers for signs of contact with controlled drugs.

It became a condition of entry for people entering the premises to have their hands swabbed with a piece of paper that was then run through the drug itemiser equipment. From the swab, the machine can accurately identify illegal substances and the person’s level of contact with the substance.

Throughout the evening, the equipment detected 25 positive hits, leading individuals to be searched for possession of drugs. 7 individuals were later arrested, 5 for possession of drugs, one for a positive breath test, and one for public disorder. 3 further persons will be arrested this week in connection to the operation for possession of controlled drugs.

As part of the operation, Acting Inspector Steve Rees led a team of 16 specialist public order officers who regularly work football matches. This meant the officers were able to enter pubs and clubs quickly and safely to deal with persons suspected of being in possession of drugs, and arrest them where appropriate.

3 specialist traffic cars, a dog handler and 2 GS4 Security Prisoner transit vans were also on the scene, with the vans used to transfer offenders to the custody suite leaving more officers free to patrol.

The Bridgend sector has seen a staggering 46.8% reduction in serious violent crime, with 33 less offences committed during April 2008 – January 2009 compared with the same period the previous year.

Operation Abacus is part of an ongoing operation called Operation Rhino, a partner agency operation aimed at making the town centre a safer place to socialise in. Throughout the whole Six Nations rugby season there will be high visibility officers patrolling on match days

South Wales Police’s Chief Inspector Simon Belcher of the Bridgend Division said: “A big thank you to the general public and the staff of Barracuda Bar and The Littern Tree for their help and support during this operation. It was a pleasure to watch the commitment of the officers, many of whom had their rest day cancelled, working alongside the two licensees who obviously share the same commitment to make Bridgend a safer place to socialise in. We hope that other public houses of the Bridgend area will follow their example and also work to tackle alcohol and drug related crimes in their premises.

“South Wales Police will not tolerate drug offences in public houses, and although Bridgend is a safer place to enjoy a night out, we will strive to make it even safer.

The response of the general public and licensees to this operation was great, and we hope that anyone with information on alcohol-related crime will come forward and contact us so together we can reach this goal.”