Parked up in residential neighbourhoods, the teams, in full body armour, made the final part of their journey on foot so as not to alert their targets before smashing their way into the properties. At one property, police recovered 300 wraps of crack cocaine.
The officer in charge of the operation, Detective Superintendent Helen Lyons, said the raids were designed to take violent drug dealers off the streets and send a strong warning to those involved in this type of criminality.
“This has been a nine-month long drive, Operation Soteria, which is a bigger-picture initiative to dismantle those gangs who are linked to drug offences and violence which is played out in our communities.
“It’s been really successful to date – more than 200 arrests. Superintendent Lyons said much of the success of the operation was down to the Met’s partnership approach, working with the local community and keeping them informed about the progress of the operation.
“From organised crime groups in Lambeth and Southwark to individual street sellers on our streets, they all have one commonality – that is drugs. “Some days their relationships are fluid, they are friends. The next day they are arch enemies. “I totally understand why people are too frightened to call the police.
“However what I would say is that today is an answer to their concerns – and I would encourage them to call us, or call Crimestoppers, pass on their knowledge of individuals because that’s often how we get the intelligence we need to mount these operations.” Already this week, a young man was stabbed to death during a fight in Ealing, west London, on Tuesday.
