A NUMBER of knives – including a samurai sword – were seized by armed police in South Wales on Friday.

Armed Dyfed Powys Police officers were joined by members of the Radnor Neighbourhood Policing Team and Roads Policing Unit on Friday, April 30. They were acting on intelligence received that drugs were at a property in the Radnorshire area, but they got more than they bargained for when they also found around five knives, including two samurai-sized swords.

“Proactive work from Radnor NPT, Response, @PowysRPU and ARV after intelligence received resulted in a drugs warrant being executed which also uncovered these. #OpSceptre

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#DayOfAction #PositiveAction,” Radnorshire Police tweeted on Friday.

The seizure of the knives is part of a wider police campaign that took place last week looking to take knives off the streets of Powys.

The force announced the launch of Operation Sceptre – running from April 26 to May 2 – whereby people living in Powys, as well as Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire, were encouraged to leave unwanted knives in amnesty bins at designated police stations.

Police in Radnorshire took a number of potential weapons off the street and revealed a number of blades were handed in at Llandrindod Wells Police Station or to Radnorshire-based officers.

The force also wants people to know how to safely dispose of knives and blades outside the amnesty period, and to urge anyone involved in a household clearance, or those who would consider leaving knives at a charity shop, to instead take them to a recycling centre for safe disposal.

Inspector Andrew Williams said: “Dyfed Powys remains a safe place to live, work and visit, and thankfully we don’t face the level of knife crime other areas see.

“For this campaign we are focussing on keeping knives that could travel to other areas out of criminal hands.

“It can be difficult to know the right thing to do with an old knife or set of knives, and we want to spread the word that the safest place to take them is to the tip.

“The damage caused by knives, not just to the victim and their families, but also to the wider community, can be devastating. We will be doing all we can to keep knives out of the wrong hands.”

To find your nearest recycling centre, visit your local council’s website. 

For information on the laws around knife crime, and when it is legal to carry a knife, visit the Dyfed Powys Police website at https://www.dyfed-powys.police.uk/news/dyfed-powys/news/2021/april-2021/op-sceptre-how-to-get-rid-of-an-old-knife/