POLICE today encouraged the public to "rat on a rat" to help rid Suffolk communities of drug dealers.A three-month campaign has been launched across the country called operation Crackdown.

POLICE today encouraged the public to "rat on a rat" to help rid Suffolk communities of drug dealers.

A three-month campaign has been launched across the country called operation Crackdown.

And police in Suffolk, who have already undertaken a series of high-profile stings on dealers, have joined the fight.

Last year, the force carried a series of swoops as part of operation Taurus, which saw 28 people sentenced to a total of 75 years behind bars.

Research has shown heroin and crack cocaine users carry out more than 430 crimes each year, a level nearly ten times higher than non-drug using criminals.

Detective chief inspector John Quinton, of Suffolk police, said: "The link between drug abuse and offending has been clearly documented.

"It's in everybody's interests to remove drug dealers from the county, to reduce crime and to make Suffolk even safer.

"To achieve this goal, we need to get as much accurate information about those people who sell illegal drugs and their activities as we can."

The nationwide operation will make use of powers in Anti-Social Behaviour Act, bringing dealers to justice and seizing their drugs, assets and firearms, according to the Home Office.

It will also provide treatment and support for drug users.

The operation will include covert surveillance, undercover operations and stop and search.

Anyone with information about drug dealers is asked to call the Suffolk police operation crackdown hotline on 0800 253253 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

Is your neighbourhood blighted by drugs? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk