By John Dunne

Copyright metro

Police carried out the early raid last month, with sniffer dogs and enforcers (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

Police have busted a suspected organised crime group in a string of synchronised dawn raids across London seizing drugs, cash and lethal weapons.

The raids, which took place last month, were at six addresses with more than 50 officers involved in the operation codenamed Ironhide.

It was part of a crackdown on so called ‘high harm’ suspects fuelling violence across the capital often linked to the drugs trade.

In the last year alone 900 guns and more than 1,700 weapons hsve been taken off the streets.

The murder rate has also dropped as the Met targets the groups and individuals bringing violence to communities across London. The figure is down 33 per cent from 2020 when there were 152.

The teams on the raids in Camden and Islington massed outside the front doors of the suspects before daylight shouting for those inside to open the door and comply to their orders.

If they failed territorial support group officers used an ‘enforcer’ (a metal battering ram) to enter.

Police are seen outside of the property moments after the raid took place (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

The front door of one of the properties is seen bashed in after the ‘enforcer’ was used (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

Armed with warrants they searched the properties and have charged four people, three of them teenagers with drugs offences.

Among those detained on a raid attended by Metro was an alleged senior figure running a lucrative drug dealing gang.

Cash, jewellery including a Rolex watch and a pair of Gucci trainers were among the items seized.

At other addresses, swords, machetes and a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire were among the weapons found along with ammunition. Class A drugs were also discovered as well as a stolen Alfa Romeo.

The raids took months to meticulously plan and aimed to smash the gang by going for its ‘Achilles heel’.

In a reference to Greek mythology detectives are targeting perceived weak points in the drug gangs which can disrupt and in some cases destroy the gang’s ability to sell drugs.

Several bags of evidence were collected, including a Rolex watch (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

Gucci trainers and a PlayStation were also seized in the raid (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

Typically the gangs peddle drugs through dedicated phone lines but the police raids can recover evidence which lifts the lid on the criminals and takes them off the streets.

The raids were from Holborn police station where a unit is tasked with tacking violent criminals in the boroughs of Camden and Islington in north London.

The operation was part of the Met’s Summer Violence plan to bring down cases of physical harm on the capital’s streets. Last week the Met said it had arrested 1,300 people at 20 crime hotspots including Walthamstow in east London and Notting Hill in the west as part of a seasonal crackdown on offenders.

The officer in charge of operation Ironhide Detective Inspector Sam Lockstone told Metro: ‘This was a highly successful operation and sends the message that we are disrupting these high harm criminal gangs.

‘In many cases we know who those involved are and we are determined to take them off the streets.

The raids were from Holborn police station where a unit is tasked with tacking violent criminals in the boroughs of Camden and Islington in north London (Pictures: Zineb Lazraq/Metro)

‘Intelligence gathering is important and the help of the public is vital. People may know these individuals who live on their communities. They are often violent because violence is used by these gangs.

‘We term it the Achilles heel we want to get them at their weak point. It may be for offences other than gang activity but it gives us a warrant and a way in.’

Robbery is down ten per cent year on year and cases of serious violence have plunged by 18.5 per cent, Scotland Yard said.

DI Lockdtone said more operations and raids would follow and that the misery heaped on Londoners by the gangs dealing drugs and robbing phones was a top priority as the drop in violent crime suggests.

He added: ‘We know who they are in many cases and we are coming for them.’

Who was charged in relation to the raid?

Following the raids a number of charges were brought against suspects.
A man, 37, from north London charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).
A 17-year-old boy from Islington was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).
A 15 year-old boy from Camden was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).
A 15 year-old boy from Islington was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin) and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place.
The items seized in the raids and bagged up as evidence were:

A large quantity of suspected Class A drugs (crack cocaine and heroin).
A large quantity of cash.
Nine knives/swords/machetes.
A baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.
A knuckleduster.
A round of ammunition.
A stolen car found on cloned plates

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