A police chief has warned young drug dealers in Bradford they will pay a big price for trying to "get rich quick".

Police are now required by law to hold a financial inquiry into those caught supplying drugs and can seize any assets they have under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Chief Superintendent Allan Doherty, head of the anti-drugs initiative Crackdown in Bradford, said it was important not to allow those convicted of drug dealing to profit from their crimes.

He said: "If we strip them of their assets it sends out a real signal, especially to young people who might look at drug dealers and envy their lifestyle. You will get caught, go to prison and lose the money you have made and be left with nothing. It's not worth it."

There are six full-time police financial investigators in the Bradford district whose job is to look into the assets of criminals.

Chief Supt Doherty said a lot of young dealers did not see the harm in what they were doing. But he stressed: "The problem is, in many cases, the users have to commit crime to get the money to buy those drugs. It could be the supplier's own mum and dad's house that gets burgled, their own little sister who gets robbed on the street, or their own car which is broken into.

"There is a culture among a small group of young men in most inner-city areas who think that drug dealing is OK. We have to break that culture. Their own community has got to make it clear to them that it is not acceptable."

Chief Supt Doherty said he was delighted with the amount of information the public gave police about drug dealing, often anonymously through the Crimestoppers Dob in a Dealer hotline, which has seen more than 2,400 arrests made by the Bradford District Drugs Team and drugs worth £8.5m seized since it was formed five years ago.

But he said: "We can always do more. People giving information aren't required to come to court and give evidence. We find the evidence and we have proved we can be trusted to do that while keeping a confidence. We don't let people down.

"There are nearly half a million people living in Bradford. If the majority of them help us with bits of intelligence, we can't lose. We have to work with the public and other partners. If the public has the confidence that we will deal with their information properly we can put away dangerous criminals."

Chief Supt Doherty admitted Bradford had its fair share of high-level drug dealers, like any other similar modern city, but every supplier lived in a house, on a street, and had neighbours.

He said: "It is pointless pretending it is not going on. We have got to get on and deal with it. Neighbours will see suspicious activity and people driving around in expensive cars, and wonder how they are funding their opulent lifestyles. If they do, they should pick up the phone and Dob in a Dealer, their information might be the last piece of the jigsaw we need."

Anyone who suspects drug dealing is going on in their area should call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

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