Cannabis 'shatter lab' and £10,000 discovered after police use stinger to stop car in Northumberland
A drugs lab and more than £10,000 were discovered after three suspected drug dealers were detained when a vehicle was stopped by a police stinger.
Northumbria Police tracked a red VW Golf, heading towards Belsay, in Northumberland, which they believe failed to stop in a high-speed chase on the A19 the previous day.
Officers set up a stinger device as they tracked the car on Tuesday 12 July. It burst the tyres before two people fled into nearby fields.
Police dog Rocky picked up a scent and led officers along a trail.
A 20-year-old man and an 18-year-old woman were later found and arrested.
Officers discovered £3,000 in cash and a quantity of drugs inside the Golf.
They also found a mobile phone which was heard ringing in nearby bushes.
This led police to two addresses where they found £7,000 cash, a quantity of cannabis and a so-called 'shatter lab'.
A shatter lab is a drugs laboratory which produces a highly concentrated cannabis which is pressed into a thin sheet.
If broken it shatters like glass which is where the name comes from.
A third suspect, a 37-year-old man, was subsequently arrested and taken into custody.
Chief Inspector Ian Cutty, from Northumbria Police, said: “We all have a responsibility to abide by the laws of the road and we are committed to bringing anybody to justice who recklessly endangers the lives of other users.
“The law is not optional and our roads are not racetracks. Ensuring our roads are as safe as they possibly can be is a priority for the force and we will continue to do everything in our power to put perpetrators behind bars.”
The 20-year-old man arrested has been charged with dangerous driving and failing to stop.
He is due to appear before magistrates in Newcastle later this month.
The 37-year-old man remains under investigation in relation to possessing a Class B drug with the intent to supply, while the 18-year-old woman remains under investigation in relation to driving and drug offences.
Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner, Kim McGuinness, said: "This isn’t just about the drugs themselves; the knock-on effects of drug dealing in communities can be devastating.”
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