Almost 300 pre-planned house searches have been carried out by police across the Borough in the first 11 months of 2017, Armagh I can reveal.
And from those searches a total of 121 arrests have been made, with the main reason linked to drugs.
A Freedom of Information request lodged by this publication revealed a total of 30 searches were also carried out as a result of information on rape, indecent images or extreme pornography, of which there were 12 arrests.
The searches were carried out in Armagh (6), Banbridge (8), Portadown (5) and Lurgan (11).
Three searches were carried out in Armagh, Banbridge and Portadown in relation to misconduct in a public office, however, no arrests were made on any of those occasions.
Armagh came in highest on searches ranked under ‘dishonesty’, which includes: theft; burglary; fraud, POCA – proceeds of crime; counterfeit goods and currency. A total of 33 houses were searched in the Borough were raided with more than a third in Armagh. 15 arrests were made in connection with these dishonesty searches.
There was a single search and arrest made in Banbridge in relation to human trafficking. That case against Romanian nationals Spartacus and Decebal Mihai is ongoing.
They are accused of involvement in the exploitation of up to four women in the town.
Of the 283 searches, Lurgan tops the table by a distance, having 111 warranted searches in 11 months. Portadown was runner-up with 63, while Banbridge and Armagh had 56 and 53 respectively.
Of the 121 arrests, Lurgan had 48, Portadown (22), Banbridge (28) and Armagh (21), while two arrests were made outside the district.
