Bar owner praised in drug fight
A Lincolnshire bar owner has been praised for helping police to glean a better picture of drug use in the area by allowing his customers and his bar to be swabbed for drugs.
A joint operation by police in Louth, Lincolnshire's Drug and Alcohol Action Team and one of the town's biggest licensed premises, Kai's Bar, has been hailed a success by all involved.
The results have given us an indication where drug dealing could be being carried out and that's not necessarily on this premisesRichard Paing from Lincolnshire's DAAT.
The operation used a 'drugs itemiser' to check for substance abuse across the town on Saturday night and focused on Kai's Bar with the full support of owner Michael Kheng.
Out of a total of 375 swabs tests taken, 12 proved positive.
Of these, 355 swabs were carried out on people entering Kai's, with nine of these proving positive - five men and four women.
Searches were carried out on all nine people, each proving negative.
PC Rachel Hughes who coordinated the operation said: "Out of all those people entering Kai's Bar on Saturday night, only six people refused to take part in the itemiser testing and they were refused entry."
Twenty swabs were conducted throughout the premises and three of these swabs proved positive.
"The results have given us an indication where drug dealing could be being carried out and that's not necessarily on this premises," said Richard Paing from Lincolnshire's DAAT.
"The itemiser, which can be used to test for a whole range of illegal substances is so highly sensitive it can pick up even the smallest traces of drugs.
"Small traces can be picked up from surfaces, ledges, loo flushers and door handles and this can assist the police in tracing where the drugs could have been dealt.
Following the weekend's activity more operations are planned across Louth involving other licensees.
Police say the aim of the operations is to raise awareness of drug use and highlight areas where dealing may be taking place, so that preventative action can be taken.
Kheng said: "Kai's have a zero tolerance towards drugs and is fully supportive of this latest police operation.
"I am personally involved in the drafting of the Drugs Strategy for Licensed Premises for Lincolnshire and continue to work closely with DAAT and Lincolnshire Police to tackle drug abuse across the whole county."
