Police dog finds 11 people carrying cocaine in Sheffield city centre 'Mad Friday' drugs crackdown

The searches were part of Operation Sidewinder, a police initiative to protect vulnerable people in the city by tackling drug and knife crime.

It sees a heavy presence of officers in the centre of town on busy nights, carrying out drug searches using sniffer dogs.

Out of a total of 24 people stopped, 11 were found to be carrying cocaine, a class A drug.

Two people were also found to be in possession of cannabis, which is a class B drug.

Of these people found to have drugs, two were reported on summons. This included one person found with class A drugs and one found with class B.

Others were given a formal caution.

The operation was organised in a bid to reduce violent crime in Sheffield, with statistics and studies showing that those who take illegal drugs and mix them with alcohol are more likely to be a victim of crime or an offender.

Acting police sergeant Paul Briggs said: “Although not as busy as some years there was still lots of people out having a Christmas tipple.

“Sidewinder is an early intervention operation aimed at people using illegal drugs in the night time economy.

“We want to reduce violent crime, which is low anyway, even further in our city centre.

“Police Dog Dibley certainly earned his Christmas bone and we thank him for his hard work for the evening.”

Operation Sidewinder will return to Sheffield streets in coming weeks.