POLICE mounted a dawn raid in Wisbech in the fight against drug crime, after a public response to an inspector s call through the Wisbech Standard. Days after the anonymous letter was posted at Wisbech Police Station, officers struck at a house in

EXCLUSIVE by: TOM JACKSON

POLICE mounted a dawn raid in Wisbech in the fight against drug crime, after a public response to an inspector's call through the Wisbech Standard.

Days after the anonymous letter was posted at Wisbech Police Station, officers struck at a house in Oakroyd Crescent to catch a dealer moments before he hit the streets.

Inspector Robin Sissons said: "The letter was the additional bit of information we needed to justify the warrant. We knew about this man, but had no public intelligence about his activities."

Ten police officers struck at the semi-detached house, a multi-occupancy home, shortly before 7am on Friday.

Sergeant Dave Bax entered the home through a back door and opened the front door from inside for his colleagues to enter.

The man targeted by the police warrant, executed under the Misuse of Drugs Act, was not at home at the time of striking.

His room was searched, however, and a number of syringes were found. His room was also searched for Smartwater-marked items using special infra-red torches.

Insp Sissons said: "We may not have got our man on this occasion but it sends out a strong message that, if we wanted, we can go back to court tomorrow and get another warrant."

A fellow resident, wanted by police after failing to appear at court to answer theft charges, was also arrested as part of the warrant.

Sgt Bax said: "We did a bit of digging and found this man lived here as well. He refused to open his door at first, but we knew someone was in there because the windows were steamed up."

The anonymous letter was sent to police after Insp Sissons said the public was letting down his officers in the fight against drug crime. It was posted at the police station last Tuesday, accompanied with a cutting of the inspector's plea from our October 10 edition.

After executing the warrant, Insp Sissons added: "We had two more pieces of public intelligence that we are now acting on - so watch this space.