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A new police project tackling organised crime gangs has been launched in Rhymney, with the aim of making the town “a safer place to live, work and visit”.

The ‘Respect Rhymney’ project is part of a Home Office initiative aimed at reducing offending in areas affected by high rates of crime and disorder.

As part of the scheme, Gwent Police will carry out a range of operations to target organised crime in the area and ‘restore pride in the community’.

The force will work alongside Caerphilly County Borough Council and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) as part of the project.

After its launch, shops and pubs in Rhymney were given educational material around vapes and underage sales from police officers and the council’s Trading Standards team.

Several residents were also spoken to about concerns around dog breeding.

Arrest

The scheme got up and running with a two-day police operation, which saw a 54-year-old man from Rhymney arrested on suspicion of possessing class B drugs with intent to supply. He has since been released under investigation.

While searching a property on Thursday September 26, police found a “substantial” amount of class B drugs, packaging equipment and drugs paraphernalia.

It was one of four arrests made in the first two days of the project.

Other arrests were made on suspicion of offences ranging from shoplifting to drug driving, while the DVSA issued several fines for tyre offences.

‘Crime and antisocial behaviour decreasing’

Chief Inspector Stevie Warden, of Gwent Police, said everyone involved in the project is “committed to making this community, which has been affected by serious and organised crime, a safer place to live, work and visit”.

He said “a lot of good work” has already been carried out in the town, with officers investigating, arresting and convicting eight organised crime group members over the last year.

CI Warden said those eight were handed sentences totalling a combined 30 years and seven months.

He continued: “This work has led to both crime and antisocial behaviour decreasing in the area.

“But we cannot rest on our laurels and continue to work with partners to ensure Rhymney remains a hostile environment for criminals.

“However, we cannot do this alone and rely on the public to give us information, no matter how small, to help us build our intelligence pictures so we can act and take criminals off our streets.”