Chance insurance check in Mansfield area leads to drugs discovery in car

Officers from the county knife crime team were out in the Mansfield area when they ran a proactive check on a passing car.

Within seconds of running the details through an in-car computer, the system showed the driver as not being listed on the insurance.

Officers activated their blue lights and ordered the driver to pull over, which they initially ignored, before finally stopping on Spencer Street, Mansfield.

After approaching the car yesterday, August 1, at about noon, the team started to suspect the driver could be under the influence and a roadside drugs tested positive for cannabis.

When the driver – who was also found to not have a valid licence – continued to act suspiciously, a search was then carried out of the vehicle, where multiple wraps of Class A drugs being discovered.

A 27-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs, drug-driving, failing to stop, driving without a licence, and driving without insurance.

PC Charlotte Appleby, of Nottinghamshire Police’s county knife crime team, said: “Being on patrol is an essential part of what we do. It allows us to spot and follow up suspicious behaviour that could be linked to criminal activity. This stop was a great example of the value of this approach.

“As by pulling over a car intelligence suggested was being driven illegally, we were ultimately able to seize quantities of Class A drugs and arrest a suspected drug-driver.

“Due to us being out on the roads as much as we are, it is inevitable we will come across other criminal activity beyond just knife crime.

“The discovery of one offence can lead to more, as this incident showed.

“While our main focus as a team is obviously to target knife crime offenders and weapon-enabled crime, everything we do as a team is with the aim of making our communities safer. We’re pleased to have been able to help do that in this incident.”