‘Crime has fallen since dealer’s arrest’

THE DETECTIVE who led the ten-week sting codenamed "Operation Wolfish" to nail hardened drug dealer Andrew Daly said local crime had reduced since the pusher's arrest.

Detective Sergeant Glyn Leech said: "He was one of the most determined drug dealers Macclesfield has seen for a number of years and taking him off the streets had already had a huge impact on the criminal fraternity in the town.

"The more drug dealers you take off the streets the fewer numbers of crime because there is less stealing to fund their habit."

Daly, who sometimes arrogantly plied his trade in full public view, was hoist with his own petard after going about his evil business dishing out heroin and crack cocaine "like candy" with no apparent fear of being caught.

But all the time he was being watched in a softly-softly surveillance operation which ran from February to April this year and involved more than 40 officers and numerous tactics.

Their grim determination and patience paid off and it resulted in his capture after a number of frustrated attempts.

Speaking after Daly was jailed, DS Glyn Leech, said: "He has been the bane of our lives for quite some time.

"There were fears he would be seen as a frail man in poor health but this is an aggressive drug dealer and I think this is an appropriate sentence.

"For us to catch him supplying we had to go to a lot of lengths and this is a significant result."

The operation was carried out by the Eastern Pro-active Policing Team instigated by the Macclesfield unit.

All Daley's drug dealings took place in Macclesfield; on the Hurdsfield estate, under the Silk Road flyover, near Tesco on Hibel Road and along the towpath between Summerlea Close and Black Lane.

DS Leech said Daly used these remote areas so his activities would be difficult to capture.

But he would also peddle his Class A wares in full view of the public. Daly would leave Manchester at the latest 7.30am each day - bar Sunday - initially using his own car, then buses from his home address.

He would also drive to Stockport and then catch a bus or train to Macclesfield - police believe in an attempt to avoid being watched or caught.

DS Leech said: "He was a very switched-on, determined man. He was coming here every day, but would have Sundays off.

"As soon as he got off the bus, he went to these remote areas dealing bags of heroin and crack cocaine. Arriving between 9am and 9.30am, you immediately got a stream of people queueing up.

"He then appeared on street corners in full view of the public handing out bags of drugs like candy.

"On one occasion he went to hand out a bag of drugs to a member of the public who was merely walking past. He was very bolshy and aggressive. In our view he has been dealing Class A drugs for a long time and without the tactics used we would have not got him.

"He only used to keep small amounts on him and we believed from the early stages that he was stashing drugs in Macclesfield, which could have been on Nicholson Avenue."

Daly's co-defendant Cheryl Carpenter was involved because he regularly used her home which was then on Nicholson Avenue.

DS Leech said: "Clearly there was drug dealing taking place from the house. He would go in and you would see people going in and out. Or he would wait for a car to pull up, people would approach Daly and there would be a quick exchange. Sometimes you would see him spitting things into his hand."

He would not reveal specific techniques used on the covert evidence-gathering operation, but police trailed Daly for weeks until a specific arrest operation was launched on the morning of April 6.

Two officers hid in undergrowth close to the hub of his activities - and watched as he made his final deal.

A simultaneous raid took place at the house on Nicholson Avenue and a couple of hours later officers swooped on his Fallowfield home where scales and traces of cocaine were found.

During his arrest Daly tried to get rid of a package containing a number of individual bags of heroin, by throwing it away but it was recovered on the other side of a river. Daly had previously lived in Macclesfield which is why police believed he built up associations with drug users.

"The ultimate objective was to catch him supplying, not just in possession of Class A drugs, which we did a number of times." said DS Leech.

"The decision to target Daly was because he was coming in from Manchester and we had quite a few complaints from the public about dealing on the towpath, near Tesco and near the railway station.

"We rely on the public to come forward with information of this type and if anyone does have information it will be treated in the strictest of confidence and acted upon where necessary."