MORE than 100 heroin and crack cocaine dealers have been put behind bars by a specialist team of Oxford police targeting drug lords, the Oxford Mail can reveal.

Starting out as a six-month crackdown on drug gangs in the city, Operation Bilbo is still locking up dealers more than four years on.

Since it was created in 2012, the team of one detective and four PCs has locked up dozens of criminals peddling Class A drugs for a total of almost 300 years.

They have also seized about £1m in cash.

But in an exclusive interview, Detective Sergeant James Blackmore the team would now be "changing its focus" from not only catching dealers, but preventing others from being exploited by them.

He warned drug lords are taking over the homes of addicts, as well as other vulnerable people, and using them to stash and supply Class A substances.

Sgt Blackmore said: "We will never completely stop drugs, but we will make it very difficult for those people and we will control it.

"There is a change in focus now where we are really looking to target and help vulnerable people.

"We are doing a lot of work around drug dealers in the city who come in and take over someone's property to deal from. Drug dealers really focus of the vulnerability of a person."

Mr Blackmore said homes owned by housing associations were being targeted in particular.

He added: "We could just go for the drug dealer, but someone else will just take their place. If you point vulnerable people in the right direction, they are less likely to be a victim of crime and be a target for these people.

"We work a lot closer with housing associations to identify vulnerable people and to prevent it from happening."

It is believed about half of the drug dealers convicted since 2012 came from other cities like London with others basing themselves in the city.

Some find local "runners" to do their business.

Operation Bilbo was the first of its kind at St Aldate's Police Station to focus on crack cocaine and heroin ring leaders and investigating tip-offs from the public.

It was made a permanent department after its early success.

In 2014 the team seized £230,000 worth of the Class A drugs and confiscated £81,500 in drug money.

Sgt Blackmore said Operation Bilbo was created after a spate of stabbings and robberies in Oxford.

He said: "We got together for six months initially, and I would say it took a minimum of three months to see the intelligence turn into arrests and court cases.

"It was extended for a further six months and after that year, it was clear we were having an effect to crime in the city and it was made a permanent team."

Latest figures show drug offences – including trafficking and possession – fell by 25 per cent from 726 in 2014/15 to 547 in 2015/16.

Supt Christian Bunt, LPA commander for Oxford, praised the efforts of the Operational Bilbo team.

He added: "The team has done some really good work. Drugs have a huge impact on other areas of crime and this has been successful.

"Drug users can commit crimes to feed their habits so it's about helping those vulnerable people from being exploited."

Sgt Blackmore said one of his most satisfying cases was seeing drug dealer Samuel Navo put behind bars this year.

Navo, 22, was sentenced to five years in prison for possession with intent to supply cocaine and heroin, possession of Class A and possession of a knife in a public place.

Sgt Blackmore said: "It was how nasty he was and the effect he had with vulnerable people in the city.

"We get far more satisfaction locking up a horrible person. We do not care the amount of drugs we have seized.

"If they are nasty, horrible and exploiting members of the public that's the most satisfying and Navo was one of a number of them.

"You have to be a certain type of person to be a drug dealer. They know about the pain it cause to others.”