Elite police squad officer still quizzed in drugs probe

Detectives were tonight still questioning a member of the elite National Crime Squad over allegations of drug-dealing after releasing eight other suspects on police bail.

Derbyshire Police confirmed that two of 10 people arrested on Saturday were still being held in custody in connection with the inquiry.

Eight people, including four police officers who have been suspended by the Derbyshire force, were granted police bail earlier today.

A police spokesman confirmed that an officer seconded to the National Crime Squad from Nottinghamshire Constabulary was one of the two people who remains in custody.

The inquiry is centred on the alleged possession and supply of drugs in Derbyshire.

The National Crime Squad confirmed yesterday that five police officers, including two from its own ranks, were among the 10 people arrested.

The five men and five women, all in their 30s or 40s, were arrested on suspicion of supplying cocaine and cannabis.

A spokesman for the National Crime Squad which was set up in April 1998 to tackle national and transnational organised crime said the arrests were made at eight addresses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire on Saturday morning.

Small quantities of what are believed to be cannabis and cocaine were found at three of the addresses, said the spokesman.