Drugs gang targeted during multi-force raids across UK
A gang making in excess of a million pounds a year supplying Class A and B drugs through a network that stretched from Plymouth to Scotland has been targeted in a series of multi-force raids across UK.
Officers from six forces executed 29 warrants on Wednesday morning (March 24), arresting 16 people and seizing £150,000 cash, 20kgs of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and cannabis, and a firearm.
The operation had been months in the making after intelligence was received in April last year that a number of individuals in Hackney, East London, were involved in supplying Class A drugs.
Officers identified that the gang’s network supply routes stretched all the way across to Bristol, down to Plymouth and up to Aberdeen in northeast Scotland.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), Kent Police, Essex Police, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, Devon and Cornwall Police and Police Scotland were all involved in Wednesday’s raids.
Twenty of 20 of the warrants were carried out at addresses in London.
Detective Inspector Tom Pearse, from the MPS’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “The supply and distribution of drugs doesn’t contain itself within the M25.
“It’s a fluid and toxic commodity that leaks out into the Home Counties and beyond, often leaving a trail of violence in its wake.
“By collaborating with other police forces, we have removed those in the middle levels, as well as those at the top of the chain who were making in excess of a million pounds a year.”
He added: “These arrests will play a significant part in disrupting the drugs supply market and play a fundamental part in tackling violent crime in London and the surrounding areas.
“The proactive team responsible for delivering this operation have investigated the criminal network with tenacity and vigour, working long and anti-social hours week after week.
“After today they will move onto the next network and start the process over. It remains the case that there is no loyalty within the drug supply network and those involved in this exploitative trade.”
The 16 people arrested are aged between 25 and 43 and are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A and B drugs. One of those detained in custody has also been arrested on suspicion of possession of a handgun that was recovered at an address in East London. Fourteen have since been charged with multiple offences, said the MPS. Two have been released under investigation.