Loaded gun and ammo seized from boy after car stopped in Doncaster street

Police revealed they had made the arrest in Denaby on Friday, as they launched their latest major operation against organised crime in the Dearne Valley, this morning (Monday July 15).

Officers arrested a 17-year-old youth in the Bolton Street area for possession of a live firearm, revealed Det Insp Steve Smith after briefing officers in a park at Schofield Street, in Mexborough, ahead of an operation which saw South Yorkshire’s Violent Crime Taskforce carry out an operation across three force areas.

It saw the team of 24 officers deployed in the Dearne Valley in Doncaster, Rotherham, and Barnsley, in an action intended to prevent organised crime from dispersing from Mexborough into other parts of the Dearne.

Police have been running an ongoing operation for several weeks, called Operation Drum Alpha, which aims to disrupt organised crime in Mexborough, and Det Insp Smith said it was showing success.

He said the work would be going on at least until 2020 and getting rid of the roots of organised crime was a long term job. He said it has been well known that the organised crime gang called the PSB had been operating in the Mexborough area, and that their illegal activity was not going to be tolerated

He said the task would also involve community policing, and would also involve putting in place diversionary activities for young people to help keep them from getting involved in crime.

He said: “Incidents seem to be on the decline, but we’re not foolish enough to think the battle is won. They can operate 24 hours a day, but so can we.

“Only on Friday, as a direct result of this operation, we arrested a 17-year-old male for possession of a live firearm. That was in the Bolton Street area.

“I think we are making progress towards the problem being under control, but this is a long operation because of the depth they have got into the community.

“I’m not surprised by how young the person that was arrested was, as that is the way these organised crime groups operate. The top echelons don’t put their hands on the guns – they put young people out their as their sacrificial lambs. Every firearm recovered makes the community safer without a doubt.”

Work carried out today (Monday) included high visibility patrols, targeting known offenders, and stopping street drug dealing.

The operation across force district boundaries was to stop crime spreading out.

Det Insp Smith said: “With communities that are so close together you’ve got to be careful so that criminal activity does not disperse elsewhere, so we are looking at three areas, to deal with organised criminality in partnership.”