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<p>Drugs devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities. The Government's ten-year
Drugs Strategy demonstrates our commitment to cut off the supply of drugs, reduce
their recreational use and make the UK a significantly harder place for organised
crime groups to operate in. Through our end-to-end plan to tackle drug supply, we
are tackling the supply of drugs at every level from production overseas to cultivation
in the UK. Our approach recognises that the organised criminals behind drug cultivation
are often involved in a range of wider offences including firearms, money laundering,
slavery and human trafficking.</p><p>Working with the National Crime Agency, the Regional
Organised Crime Unit network and a range of agency partners, police in England and
Wales coordinated Operation Mille - the most significant operation of its kind aimed
at disrupting organised crime groups by dismantling large-scale cannabis farms – a
key source of illicit income for organised crime gangs. Throughout June of 2023, police
executed over 1,000 search warrants, arresting hundreds of individuals and seized
20 firearms, over £635,000 in cash and over 180,000 cannabis plants worth around £130
million. Of those arrested, more than 450 were later charged with a range of offences.
The Home Office provided police with £1.5m funding in 2023/24 to support Operation
Mille.</p><p>Last year the Government launched the Anti-social Behaviour Action Plan
ensuring the police, local authorities and other relevant agencies have the tools
and powers they need to tackle anti-social behaviour. Under the Plan, which is backed
by £160m of funding, we are taking a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of anti-social
behaviour, including by toughening up the police response to drugs, expanding testing
on arrest and banning nitrous oxide.</p>
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