Gang steals 9,000 'laughing gas' canisters

Three men broke into an industrial estate and stole a trailer containing 9,000 canisters of nitrous oxide gas.

Merseyside Police said the thieves struck at Knowsley Business Park at about 22:15 GMT on Sunday 24 November.

In an unrelated incident in Toxteth in Liverpool, two teenagers and a 30-year-old man were held after police pulled over a car and found large canisters of the substance inside.

Nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas, was made into a Class C controlled drug in 2023.

The colourless gas is used as a painkiller in medicine and dentistry, and when mixed with oxygen is known as "gas and air" which is often used during childbirth.

Recreational users, however, are known to use small canisters to fill balloons with the gas before inhaling it for a short-lived high.

The force said heavy, regular abuse of the drug could cause health problems including anaemia and in more severe cases, nerve damage or paralysis.

Between 2001 and 2020, there were 56 deaths in England and Wales where nitrous oxide was mentioned on the death certificate.

Merseyside Police said more than 30 canisters of nitrous oxide were found in a car in the early hours of 25 November.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16, and a man, 30, were arrested on suspicion of possession of a psychoactive substance with intent to supply after a Ford Kuga car was stopped in Sefton Street.

Det Insp Steve Byrom said: “Abuse of nitrous oxide is dangerous and is often linked to antisocial behaviour and criminality.

“We would encourage people to think about the possible consequences of possessing or selling this illegal drug."

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