Machetes, meat cleavers and pills found during drug raids in Glasgow

Three homes in the city’s Govanhill were simultaneously raided by uniformed officers armed with warrants on Tuesday morning.

The Boyd Street properties - all within yards of each other - were targeted because community cops were given tip-offs about possible drug dealing in the Southside area.

The Glasgow Times exclusively joined the squad of 15 officers from Gorbals police station.

Firstly officers were briefed on the location, a residential street made up of tenement blocks.

We learned that it was rare for an operation of raids to be within such a short distance of one another.

The senior officer in charge, Inspector Cennydd Smith explained lots of preparation went into ensuring the raids took place swiftly and safely.

He told us that they were expecting to find “low-level drug supplying” taking place within the properties.

In a savvy move, cops went to check out where they could park their vehicles with ease and without being spotted by anyone in the flats days before the raids. This was done to prevent anyone involved in the drug dealing from being able to have the time to dispose of any substances.

This also allowed officers to check the stability of the doors and whether or not they could be put in easily.

Sergeant Gary Bone took charge of the briefing telling officers to park on Allison Street in order to not draw any attention to the raid.

He said: “They are safe houses but could have all sorts of drugs in them – cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, pills. Drugs can be hidden under the floorboards.”

He urged his team to stay vigilant and divided them into smaller teams of three and have their own short briefings.

The community cops then headed off in two large vans while The Glasgow Times followed behind with Inspector Smith to arrive at Allison Street shortly before the 11am raid.

After the short walk, entry was quickly gained to all properties at the same time. We witnessed officers force their way into one property. They ran up the close stairs then targeted the door which was put in with the rammer, but nobody was inside at the time.

After an hour-long search, no drugs were recovered but a meat cleaver was found. We then made our way into another close where we spotted an “all cops are b******s” sticker on the door.

Two people were found within the property after officers quickly put the door in.

A large piece of wood was stuck to the front door, which revealed it had been put in before.

Meanwhile, a wooden device was also found behind the door, designed to stop cops from forcing entry.

But officers told us that this had not been set up when they arrived that morning.

A large machete - at least an arm’s length - was in the hall and a meat cleaver was found elsewhere in the home.

Following an hour-long search, two large bags of tablets were found – which were expected to be sent to the lab to be tested.

This is done so that police can verify the type of drugs they have taken possession of and whether or not they are illegal.

After officers took the details of the people within the flat, a woman was arrested in connection with an outstanding warrant relating to another matter. She was taken into custody.

When being escorted out by officers and placed into the back of a cell van, she spotted our photographer and started shouting “who you taking photos of ya p***k”.

Meanwhile, in one final property, which had a smashed close door, two weapons were seized from the flat – a machete and a meat cleaver, after the person inside voluntarily surrendered them. No drugs were recovered.

Officers explained that if there are people coming to buy drugs from dealers, they do what they can to get into the close including smashing windows. They also can annoy neighbours by chapping windows and pressing every buzzer.

Joiners were arranged to fix the broken doors before leaving and the arrested woman was taken to the police station along with the pills.

Officers had a debriefing back at the station to discuss the raid and if there was anything they could have done better.

Inspector Cennydd Smith said: “Tuesday’s action was a culmination of community engagement over a period of time that has allowed us to execute three drugs’ warrants.

“As a result of these warrants we have taken four potentially lethal weapons of the streets and will carry out tests to establish the nature of the tablets recovered.

“Hopefully this provides the local community with the reassurance that we act on their concerns and those involved in the supply of controlled drugs will not be tolerated.

“If anyone has any concerns about drug dealing in their area then they can contact Police Scotland on 101 or Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.”