Drugs cash used to fund raids on suspected dealers

A police boss funding a series of raids against suspected drug dealers said the money came from half a million pounds found under another dealer's bed.

Cumbria Police said search warrants were executed across the county on Wednesday as part of a "day of action" intended to disrupt serious and organised crime.

During raids in Penrith, Barrow and Kendal, a total of four men were arrested and £30,000 of drugs seized.

Cumbria's police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) David Allen said on a similar day of action last year, "we found half a million pounds under one drug dealer's bed".

"Half of that comes back to me, to then get distributed out to the police and elsewhere, so we can keep doing this for as long as we need to."

Allen said this particular operation was aimed at individuals in each town, rather than a linked network of drug supply across the whole county.

"I'm not seeing evidence here of county lines," he said. "Having said that, there was quite a bit of cash, quite a bit of drugs found in this house, and three individuals have been arrested as a result of that."

Cumbria Police said three men had been arrested in Penrith on a variety of drugs charges and officers had seized cocaine worth an estimated £30,000, and a "significant" quantity of cash.

Discussing the budget for such operations, Allen said that there was always a limit on money, but because of the cash seized from other criminals he could continue to fund them.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics for the year to March 2026 show there were 1,793 drug offences recorded in Cumbria, which is a 10% reduction on the previous year.

The rate of such offences was 3.5 per 1,000 people, which puts the county 11th out of 43 force areas, and higher than most rural ones apart from Kent, Cheshire and Essex.

Allen said part of the reason is because the police actively looked for people selling drugs and responded when they were tipped off.

"If people tell us where they think drug dealing is taking place - and people are quite good at doing that - then the police will act," he said.

"Maybe not straight away, maybe not immediately, but they will gather the intelligence, bring it all together, and then go through the door, exactly as they've done this morning."

Insp Martyn Irving from Eden's neighbourhood policing team said he and his colleagues would respond to reports of drug dealing of any type.

"If we're in receipt of information that there is a cannabis farm, or there's any sort of drug activity, then we look to to take some action against it.

"Today we found a decent amount of white powder, tomorrow it could be cannabis.

"Often people who are dealing drugs deal more than one sort of drug - it can be a bit of a cocktail of what we find.

"It's a constant fight but we'll continue fighting it."

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