West Yorkshire Police issued the warning after stopping a vehicle earlier this month and discovering hidden drugs among a load of Christmas sweets. According to the force, the drugs were packaged in similar-looking colourful wrappers to closely resemble their counterparts; the Quality Streets, Celebrations, and Aero Minis were renamed “Quality Heat”, “Calibrations”, and “Ammo Minis”. “Please be vigilant if you see these, they can contain dangerous amounts of THC and people sometimes do not realise the danger of consuming these items,” a police spokesperson said. Similarly, in March of this year, police in West Yorkshire reported that edible cannabis worth £300,000 was discovered in chocolate boxes after drug dealers disguised it. To target children, the gang members disguised the drugs as sweets. During a police raid in Wakefield, chocolates with similar names to Dairy Milk and Milky Bar were discovered to be laced with drugs. Again, the drugs were disguised as sweets and packaged in colourful packets, and they were expected to be distributed throughout the country from West Yorkshire. Officers also seized approximately £6,750 in heroin, £2,000 in cannabis, and crack cocaine valued at £10,000 or more. In some Tesco stores, Celebrations is offering bounty-free boxes. According to police, gangs purposefully designed them to look like chocolates, such as these celebrations, in order to appeal to children. County Lines and the organised crime linked to it have a significant impact on the people of West Yorkshire and the communities we serve,” said Detective Supt Fiona Gaffney, head of Serious and Organized Crime at West Yorkshire Police. It is associated with violence and the exploitation of many vulnerable individuals. Our goal is to disrupt these activities and reassure people in our county that we will not tolerate county lines criminality anywhere in West Yorkshire.” “Our goal is to disrupt these activities and to reassure people in our county that we will not tolerate county lines criminality anywhere in West Yorkshire,” the Nuneaton Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) said.
