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Drug blitz to clean up St Kilda in time for summer

Local officers will team up with investigators from a range of specialist units to tackle drug trafficking in St Kilda in time for summer.

Police will be launching a new drug bust campaign for the St Kilda area on Sunday. Picture: Mark Stewart
Police will be launching a new drug bust campaign for the St Kilda area on Sunday. Picture: Mark Stewart

Police will on Sunday launch a blitz on illegal drug activity in St Kilda in a bid to clean up the popular beachside suburb in time for summer.

Operation Spartan will see local officers team up with investigators from a range of specialist units to tackle drug trafficking.

Senior Sergeant Angela Hantsis said residents had concerns about drug use in the area.

Constable Jake Gale, Senior Constable Chris Hughes, Sergeant Charles Ormiston. Picture: Mark Stewart
Constable Jake Gale, Senior Constable Chris Hughes, Sergeant Charles Ormiston. Picture: Mark Stewart

“We know that members of the community have shared their concerns about issues such as drug trafficking, drug use, anti-social behaviour and thefts which is why we’ve developed Operation Spartan,” Snr Sgt Hantsis said.

“A priority for police will be tackling drug crime as we know this is a driver of other volume crime categories such as property crime, theft, burglaries and robberies and is often linked to funding a dependence on drugs.”

Operation Spartan will run in St Kilda for about eight weeks.

“We’ll be blitzing the area by identifying persons of interest and executing warrants of apprehension and search warrants,” Snr Sgt Hantsis said.

“Police are committed to holding offenders to account to ensure they don’t have an impact on the community’s ability to enjoy everything St Kilda has to offer.”

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/police-courts/drug-blitz-to-clean-up-st-kilda-in-time-for-summer/news-story/a7ead6a9f77f50766fa8ba10a08158df