Like children flocking to an ice cream van: 8.30am and 30 drug addicts run to a dealer's car as it parks up near playground

Addicts race after a dealer's car to get their fix in Birmingham at 8:30am



Police release footage taken from CCTV camera for BBC1 show on Friday

Almost 30 men were jailed for drug supply as part of Operation No Deal



This is the terrifying moment a drug dealer parked a car just yards from a children's playground and attracted a running crowd of 30 drug users who surrounded it like children on an ice cream van.

The footage released by West Midlands Police today shows the addicts racing after a drug dealer's car to get their fix seconds after he pulls into a street at 8:30am in Bordesley Green, Birmingham.

Police released the footage taken from a nearby CCTV camera - which will be shown on BBC1 series Caught Red Handed at 11am tomorrow - after jailing 29 men as part of their Operation No Deal.

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Shocking video: The extraordinary footage released by West Midlands Police today shows the addicts racing after a drug dealer's car to get their fix just seconds after he pulls into a street in Birmingham Caught: Police released the footage taken from a nearby CCTV camera - which will be shown on BBC1 show Caught Red Handed at 11am on Friday - after jailing 29 men as part of their Operation No Deal

DCI Nick Walton said: ‘You'd imagine drug transactions are carried out in a discrete manner, but the footage we obtained shows around 30 people rush towards the dealer's car in broad daylight.



'I'd never seen anything like it in my police career. It was clear we needed to take decisive action to tackle the problem. No one should be expected to put up with drug dealing on their doorstep.'

Undercover detectives followed the dealers with miniature cameras to gather evidence, capturing sickening footage of them peddling heroin and crack cocaine in parks and children's playgrounds.

DCI Walton added: ‘We achieved a 100 per cent success rate with every one of our targets arrested and put before the courts.

Investigation: Undercover detectives followed drug dealers with miniature cameras to gather evidence, capturing sickening footage of them peddling heroin and crack cocaine in parks and children's playgrounds

Police released the footage taken from a nearby CCTV camera - which will be shown on BBC1 series Caught Red Handed

'The evidence we'd secured against them was so strong that they all pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

'You'd imagine drug transactions are carried out in a discrete manner, but the footage we obtained shows around 30 people rush towards the dealer's car in broad daylight. I'd never seen anything like it in my police career' DCI Nick Walton, West Midlands Police

‘The mobile phones we seized from drug supply ring leaders showed they were taking up to 650 calls in 24 hours and carrying out £8,000 worth of "business" in a day.

‘These people have been taken off the streets and jailed for many years and now they've been "outed" as drug dealers we'll be able to offender manage them closely in future.

‘Operation No Deal has fundamentally improved areas of Birmingham that had been blighted by drugs. Local residents are telling us they feel safer and more comfortable in their communities.'