Drugs warrants carried out in south London

 Officers investigating drug supply in Southwark have made 12 arrests following an eight month proactive operation.

On Wednesday, 21 July, officers from Southwark Safer Neighbourhoods team and the local CID, along with officers from the Met’s Central Specialist Crime, led an operation focused on the disruption of suspected offenders operating in the Peckham and Old Kent Road areas.

Officers, assisted by the Met’s Territorial Support Group (TSG) and colleagues from the National Crime Agency (NCA), targeted 16 addresses in south London in raids starting early on Wednesday morning.

In total, 12 males – aged between 16 and 55 – were arrested on suspicion of offences including supply of Class A drugs, conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Searches at the addresses have concluded and officers have seized a quantity of what is believed to be Class A and Class B drugs, as well as a stash of cash.

The investigation was launched in December 2020 after officers identified a number of people involved in drug supply across Southwark.

The early stages of the investigation revealed to officers that there were a large amount of drugs lines operating in the area. Those believed to be concerned in the supply were subsequently targeted as part of the long running operation.

The operation involved more than 200 officers from the Met, as well as a number of officers from the NCA.

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Neighbourhood Inspector Tom Cornish, from the Central South Basic Command Unit, which covers Lambeth and Southwark, said: “This morning’s activity is a direct result of months and months of hard work by officers. The public have played an important role in providing information that has assisted us in the dismantling of these drug lines. Concerns of drug dealing in the area were raised and we have acted to put a stop to this pernicious activity.

“We know that drug dealing is closely linked to violence we see on the streets of London and cause great misery in our communities. That is exactly why disrupting the supply of drugs is a central part of our work to continue to tackle violence in the capital.

“By disrupting these drug supply lines, we have hopefully prevented associated violent incidents from occurring in the future.”

All those arrested have been taken to police stations in south London.

+ Do you have information about drug crime? If you have information that could help keep your community safe, but don’t want to speak to police, please contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They do not ask your name and cannot trace your call or I.P address.

Any young people who have information about drug dealing or want information about the consequences of drug crime, can visit www.fearless.org to where they can pass on information anonymously – your I.P address will not be traced. Fearless is part of the Crimestoppers charity and is independent of the police.

Hard calls save lives. Are you close to someone on the fringes of violence or drug crime? Do the right thing, please give information, 100 per cent anonymously, through the independent charity Crimestoppers.

No piece of information about violent crime is insignificant or too small. Any information you give to Crimestoppers can make a difference in reducing knife crime and the harm it causes to families.

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