Officers from the Hyndburn Task Force arrested two people and seized a vehicle during a drugs operation in Accrington on Saturday 31 January.
According to a statement published by Lancashire Police on the official Hyndburn Police Facebook page, officers were on patrol when they noticed a vehicle being driven suspiciously along Brown Street.
Police stopped the vehicle and arrested a 22-year-old driver and 21-year-old passenger on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs, after seizing a quantity of drugs believed to be cocaine from inside the car.
Images shared with the post show the vehicle involved was a silver Toyota Prius operating as a Wolverhampton-licensed private hire vehicle. The car was also seized under Section 19 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which allows officers to confiscate property believed to have been used in the commission of a crime.
In their message, police said the operation was intended to reassure residents that intelligence provided by the public is listened to and acted upon, using the hashtag #YouSaidWeDid. Members of the public were encouraged to report suspected drug activity via 101, by emailing the Hyndburn Task Force, or anonymously through Crimestoppers.
DM News Commentary
The fact that the vehicle shown was a Wolverhampton-licensed private hire car, as seen in the images attached to the police post, will inevitably raise fresh concerns within the taxi and private hire trade.
While the vast majority of private hire drivers are law-abiding, incidents like this continue to shine a spotlight on cross-border licensing, where vehicles operate far from the authority that licensed them. For many drivers and residents, this fuels calls for tighter oversight and reform to protect public safety and the reputation of legitimate operators.
Seizing vehicles used in criminal activity is a strong enforcement measure — and one that helps separate genuine private hire work from those abusing the system.
Thanks for visiting DM News! If you’ve got a question, a story tip, or anything you’d like to share, head over to DriverMatty.com — I’d love to hear from you.
While you’re there, don’t forget to check out my other websites and social media channels.
