Operation Costello
Top level drug dealers across Bedfordshire have been jailed for around 500 years, thanks to our specialist team Operation Costello, who were set up following the dismantling of an encrypted messaging platform.
Under the Costello, more than 200 arrests have been made and almost 30 kilos of Class A drugs and185 kilos of cannabis have been seized, which have a street value of more than £2.8 million.
Targeted operations have also led to more than 4,500 cannabis plants being recovered from drug houses and more than £7.5 million in criminal assets being investigated.
Costello was launched in the wake of Operation Venetic, a huge international law enforcement campaign to dismantle an encrypted communications called EncroChat, which was used exclusively by criminals.
Bedfordshire was exceptionally impacted by intelligence gathered as part of this operation, and additional special grant funding was subsequently awarded by government to help the force’s response.
Operation Venetic and the takedown of EncroChat
The EncroChat system was taken down as part of Operation Venetic, which involved French and Dutch police along with the National Crime Agency (NCA), Regional Organised Crime Units (ROCUs) and police forces across the country. Data held within the system’s servers gave law enforcement a unique insight into hundreds of previously unknown criminal networks.
The initial UK law enforcement response alone led to entire organised crime groups being dismantled, with 746 arrests, and £54m criminal cash, 77 firearms and over two tonnes of drugs seized. Since then, hundreds more arrests and seizures have been made.
Mass cannabis production
There are some key signs to spot a property could be being used as a cannabis factory:
- Frequent visitors to a property at unsocial hours throughout the day and night.
- Blacked out windows or condensation on the windows, even when it is not cold outside.
- Bright lights in rooms throughout the night.
- Electricity meters being tampered with/altered and new cabling, sometimes leading to street lighting. High electricity bills could also be an indicator.
- A powerful, distinctive, sweet, sickly aroma and noise from fans.
- Lots of work or deliveries of equipment to an address, particularly those associated with growing plants indoors without soil such as heaters and lighting.
- An excessive amount of plant pots, chemicals, fertilisers and compost.
Professional Enablers
In Bedfordshire we're cracking down on professional enablers. These are people who assist and support organised crime groups by letting them use premises or supplying them with materials to proceed with their criminal ventures. They very often go undetected in communities.
