Blacktown residents urged to ‘Dob in a Dealer’ to help shut down trade for the drug ice

BLACKTOWN Police are encouraging the community to ‘Dob in a Dealer’ to help shut down drug manufacturing syndicates and arrest drug suppliers.

Police say any information or even one phone call can lead to arrests for ice possession or distribution. Pic: NSW Police

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BLACKTOWN Police are encouraging the community to ‘Dob in a Dealer’ to help shut down drug manufacturing syndicates and arrest drug suppliers.

Crime Prevention Officers will be at Seven Hills Plaza tomorrow between 9am and 11am to speak to locals about the campaign.

The statewide campaign, aimed at fighting the use of ‘ice’, has been hosted within 21 Local Area Commands across the state, with Blacktown the final command to host the campaign that started in March this year.

During the campaign, residents across Blacktown LAC will be urged to contact Crime Stoppers where they can report drug-dealing activities anonymously.

Anyone can ‘Dob in a Dealer’.

Police are encouraging Blacktown residents to speak up if they know anything about ice suppliers or manufacturers.

The ‘Dob in a Dealer’ campaign will target criminals who are manufacturing and supplying ‘ice’, and even one phone call to Crime Stoppers can have an enormous impact.

In September 2012, a single, anonymous call to Crime Stoppers led to State Crime Command’s Asian Crime Squad — now known as the Organised Crime Squad — seizing 585 kilos of ‘ice’ a few months later in February 2013.

Figures show the huge impact ‘ice’ has on the community.

In the 36 months to September 2015, arrests for amphetamine possession soared by more than 75 per cent across NSW.

There has been a steady increase in the number of clandestine drug laboratories detected by police in NSW. In 2008 there were 55; by last year this had almost doubled, with 106 laboratories dismantled.

Youth Liaison Officer Senior Constable Nathan McDonald held a stand for the Dob in a Dealer campaign at Westpoint Blacktown this week.

Blacktown Local Area Commander, Detective Superintendent Gary Merryweather said ‘Dob in a Dealer’ is about acknowledging that illegal drugs are a serious issue within our community and what we can do to address it.

“Police cannot be on every street corner, which is why we need to work with the community to identify the unscrupulous criminals who are manufacturing and distributing prohibited drugs like ‘ice’ within our neighbourhoods,” Det Supt Merryweather said.

If you think you have information about someone in your community who is manufacturing or supplying drugs, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 for a confidential conversation or report securely online at www.crimestoppers.com.au.