Roadside drugs haul discovery in Mansfield leads to triple arrest

Officers were policing the build up to a football match in Mansfield on Saturday, February 3, when the incident happened.

A vehicle that intelligence suggested was being driven on cloned plates was spotted going towards Mansfield town centre at 1.50pm.

Suspecting it could be stolen, operational support officers made attempts to stop the car while on foot, with the driver instead making a u-turn and driving off.

The car was found abandoned after colliding with a wall in nearby Brick Kiln Lane a few minutes later, with its occupants then fleeing from the scene.

Three suspects were tracked down and detained by police shortly afterwards, while a bag filled with around 80 wraps of Class A drugs was found discarded nearby.

Police also recovered a burner style phone, while cash and more Class A drugs were later seized as well.

A 20-year-old man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of possessing with intent to supply Class A drugs, dangerous driving, and failing to stop.

The suspect was additionally arrested for driving without a licence and driving without the right insurance.

Two further suspects – an 18-year-old man and a 19-year-old man – were also arrested for possessing with intent to supply Class A drugs and theft of a motor vehicle.

Sergeant James Campin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Thanks to the efforts of our officers, we were able to take large quantities of Class A drugs off our streets and away from harm.

“This discovery all came about after a car on cloned plates came to our attention and then sped away from our officers when we tried to get it to pull over.

“The vehicle in question was then driven in a completely unacceptable manner that ultimately resulted in it being crashed into a wall and abandoned.

“Thankfully, nobody was hurt during this incident and we were able to arrest three suspects in connection with a number of offences.

“We are still in the process of investigating what happened, so we’d ask anyone who has any information to call the police on 101, quoting incident 360 of 3 February 2024, or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”