12 more drug arrests as “war on crime” rolls on

Pic: Mick Baker

Tower Hamlets police and nearly 100 specialist officers from the Territorial Support Unit made 12 arrests during dawn raids across the borough on Wednesday.Premises were searched and items of property were seized for forensic examination. A large quantity of Class A drugs were seized.

Following the search, detainees were taken to an east London police station for interview.

Chief Inspector Nigel Nottidge from Tower Hamlets Police said: “This is another demonstration that police and partner agencies will take robust action to deal with allegations of crime.

“We have put in place a number of measures to reassure the community who may have seen a large police presence this morning”

The arrests, involving ten TSG ‘serials’ (units of six constables and one sergeant travelling in one van per group) follow a proactive intelligence-led operation over several weeks and were mostly in connection with an investigation into the illegal supply of controlled drugs.

They were part of Operation Hawk , an operation targeted at cracking down on neighbourhood criminals.

The operation launched in south-east London last November, resulting in 278 arrests against a background of a sustained publicity blitz by the Met, tweeting its activities with the hashtag #OpHawk.

Another 200 arrests were made on September 20 across the city, with police shutting down a “crack house” in Hackney and a cannabis factory in Croydon.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “Criminals beware – we’re stepping up a gear to crack down on the drug dealers, burglars and thieves that make our lives a misery.

“Operation Hawk means our hard working Safer Neighbourhoods teams will be keeping an even closer eye on crime hot spots.”

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