Children at risk as gangs use innocent neighbours' gardens to stash drugs

CRIME gangs are increasingly using the gardens of unsuspecting neighbours to stash guns and drugs, so that if they are found they cannot be traced back to them.

Senior officers say they have noticed a growth in the past year of dangerous and illegal items hidden in the gardens of innocent people and in easy reach of children.

A series of tip-offs to Crimestoppers led to police searching homes in Broomhouse Loan and Broomhouse Gardens, Edinburgh, yesterday, looking for guns and drugs. They found heroin and valium worth 1,500.

Chief Inspector Kevin Greig of Lothian and Borders Police said: "We are not going to tolerate serious and organised crime groups creating an inherent danger to the public by stashing guns and drugs in public areas.

"Teenagers are constantly in this area and the danger to them if they find a firearm or drugs is severe."

He added: "We've become more and more aware of this in the last year as a method they are using now. It takes the drugs or firearms out of their possession, which makes linking them more difficult. It's for their own selfish ends and it endangers the people around them."

More than 50 officers were involved in yesterday's search. As well as checking bushes, bins and undergrowth, they looked for signs of disturbance and checked if anything metal had been buried. They brought spades to dig up gardens if necessary.

Police were keen to stress that the majority of the Broomhouse community is law-abiding, but they do believe a "handful" of organised crime gang members live within it.

Chief Inspector Greig added: "This operation has served as a warning to serious and organised criminals that they will not be allowed to exploit local communities as cover for their activities, and that we will take pro-active action in order to remove firearms and drugs from our streets.

"Although no firearm was recovered, we will continue to act on any information that we receive, and any further searches that take place will be conducted on an intelligence-led basis.

"At this time we remain keen for any new information that can assist our inquiries. Anyone who contacts us will be treated in the strictest of confidence."

Yesterday's searches came as a shock for residents.

David Brown, 44, a taxi driver, who lives in Broomhouse Loan, said: "We've got a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. That would be scary - you don't want your kids to come across guns and drugs. It's a shock because it's a quiet street."

Mohammed Islam, 48, a doctor, who also lives in Broomhouse Loan, added: "I'm not surprised.I haven't seen anything myself but friends talk about drug dealers living in this area.

"There are young boys aged 16 to 18, who don't have jobs and aren't going to school - for drug dealers they're easy recruits.

"We had two or three groups of officers in our back garden for almost an hour this morning and they searched everywhere.

"I have two children, a 13-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy. We don't let them play in the back garden on their own."

Three men, aged 22, 36, and 27, have been arrested and charged in connection with drugs offences following yesterday's operation.