The judicial system and South Yorkshire Police have been eager to address the problem in an effort to stamp it out by way of crackdown operations, convictions and by sending out messages that such offending will not be tolerated.
Here are the faces of 10 defendants who have been locked up after they were linked to drugs and weapons or drug dealing and weapons in recent months.
The Recorder of Sheffield - Judge Jeremy Richardson QC - has highlighted the danger of armed drug dealers after a teenager was stabbed to death, and Judge Michael Slater has stated that drugs and guns are the “scourge of South Yorkshire”.
Here are the faces of 10 defendants who have been locked up after they were linked to drugs and weapons or drug dealing and weapons in recent months.
9. Jordan Foote
Sheffield Crown Court heard how Jordan Foote, pictured, and defendants Jabari Fanty, and Aaron Yanbak were found guilty of the attempted murder of Ali al-Humakaini after he was shot at Osgathorpe Park, Burngreave, Sheffield, on October 31, 2020.
Foote, aged 20, of Basegreen Road, at Basegreen, Sheffield, was also found guilty of: conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life and conspiracy to possess ammunition with intent to endanger life; and conspiracy to supply a controlled drug of Class A. Foote was sentenced to 30 years of detention. Photo: SYP
10. Salma Shazad
Sheffield Crown Court heard in June how Salma Shazad, pictured, aged 20 at the time of sentencing, admitted permitting a drug dealing gang to use her former home at Breinberg Court, on Pitsmoor Road, Sheffield, prior to gang members murdering Sheffield man Ramey Salem. Shazad, now of Deerlands Avenue, at Parson Cross, Sheffield, formally pleaded guilty to: conspiring to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life; conspiring to possess ammunition with intent to endanger life; and conspiring to supply a controlled drug of Class A. She was sentenced to five years of detention in a Young Offender Institution. Photo: SYP