Man charged and remanded after class A drugs seized by police

A man has been charged after police seized cocaine with an estimated street value of £20,000 following a proactive vehicle stop in Mill End.

On Monday afternoon (19 February) officers from the Operational Support Group stopped an Audi A4 on Shepherds Lane, after they witnessed a suspected drug deal and detected the smell of cannabis.

They searched the vehicle under Section 23 of the Misuse of Drugs Act and recovered approximately £1,000 in cash and two mobile phones. A roadside drugs wipe was carried out on the driver, who tested positive for cannabis, and he was placed under arrest.

On Tuesday (20 February), a related search was carried out at an address in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, under Section 18 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. Approximately a quarter kilo of cocaine was recovered at the location, along with more than £5,700 in cash, a mobile phone, two extendable batons and drugs paraphernalia.

Liam O’Brien, aged 35, of no fixed address, has been charged with:

• Possession with intent to supply class A drugs (cocaine)
• Possession of an offensive weapon (baton)

O’Brien has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear at St Albans Crown Court on Wednesday 20 March.  

Detective Sergeant Tony Quince, from the Three Rivers Local Crime Unit, said: “This fantastic result was achieved with teamwork; the proactive stop was made by Watford-based Operational Support Group officers, who were assisted by colleagues from the Three Rivers Operation Scorpion team. The subsequent work to charge and remand O’Brien was carried out by the Three Rivers Local Crime Unit. We now await the outcome of O’Brien’s court appearance next month.”

If you suspect drug-related crime in your area, report it online at herts.police.uk/report, via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or by calling the non-emergency number 101. If you suspect a crime is in progress, always dial 999.

Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Do you have a doorbell cam or CCTV? If so, we would love you to join CCTV Watch so we can contact you if a crime takes place in your street. Sign up to owl.co.uk/herts and select ‘CCTV Watch.’ 

You can use our community voice platform ‘echo’ to let us know what you think we should be prioritising in your area. Your feedback will help towards shaping our local policing priorities, initiatives and campaigns. Visit bit.ly/priorities-threerivers and tell us your thoughts.