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Police make 152 arrests after daily launches anti-drug gang campaign

Police have arrested 152 people since a regional daily launched a campaign to help rid its patch of drug gangs, the newspaper has revealed.

The Eastern Daily Press launched its Let’s Get Them Out campaign in January after Norfolk Police declared a “critical incident” over the amount of knife violence in the county over the preceding months.

As a result, the force launched Operation Gravity to tackle the problem – which has also seen 23 knives confiscated, and £80,000 worth of cash and Class A drugs being seized.

The EDP revealed the scale of the operation on its front page yesterday.

EDP drugs update

At the campaign’s launch, editor David Powles said: “We are lucky enough to live in a county where drug-related violent crime is rare when compared to other places.

“That said it was clear from conversations with the Chief Constable that a worrying trend is developing and there are real concerns it will have serious complications.

“We need to stamp this problem out quickly before more people are hurt and the public can play an important part in that.

“None of us want this type of activity to happen here and we are happy to do our bit to spread this important message.”