A MAJOR new police squad has been set to crack down on serious and organised crime across Wiltshire and the South West.

Zephyr aims to dismantle and disrupt gangs who operate across police borders in illegal trades, including drug importation and dealing, money laundering and people trafficking.

The group brings together capability from the region’s five forces with national agencies to gather intelligence, crack crime networks and seize the assets of offenders.

DCI Willie Glasgow, who is in charge of Swindon CID, said: “Working together regionally in Zephyr brings benefits to us all.

“It means we can be sure that those more serious gangs are picked up and targeted and no one slips through the net.

“This should make us work smarter together and better together and it also means that where we have got specialised bits of knowledge, we can share it.”

Zephyr, created with the help of a £440,000 Home Office grant, is made up of officers from forces in Avon and Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, Dorset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Officers work alongside officials from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, the UK Border Agency, the South West Trading Standards Enforcement Team, HM Court Service and the Crown Prosecution Service.

One part, the Regional Intelligence Unit, aims to identify the highest level of criminal activity operating across police borders while the other part, the Regional Asset Recovery Team, targets and confiscates the profits of organised criminals.

DCI Glasgow said the main form of organised crime in Swindon and Wiltshire was the dealing of crack cocaine and heroin, but officers had recently had successes in identifying and breaking up networks.

“Most of our organised crime is drugs supply but there isn’t much organised crime in the Swindon or Wiltshire areas,” he said. “What we are trying to do in Swindon is stop drugs gangs becoming so organised that we would class them as organised crime groups.”

He said an important part of tackling organised crime was seizing the assets of gang leaders.

He said: “We can lock up a major criminal, put them in prison, and they could do a five to 10-year sentence.

“But if we don’t take away their assets, they can carry on running their business while they are in prison and return to their lifestyle as soon as they leave.

“If we take away their assets, they cannot continue with their business and that’s how we dismantle their group.”

Zephyr has already seen its first success, with the conviction of a Bristol man who refused to pay back money he had gained through drug dealing.