POLICE officers working together from six forces across the south of England have arrested 149 people during a three-day operation to disrupt criminals and tackle violent crime.

The initiative involved officers from Surrey, Thames Valley, Hertfordshire, British Transport Police, West Midlands, and the Metropolitan Police.

It resulted in:

  • 149 people arrested 
  • 37 vehicles seized 
  • 16 illegal weapons seized 
  • 48 stashes of drugs seized

Motorways and arterial roads are often used by criminals to run drug operations called ‘County Lines’, which filter large quantities of drugs into local communities.

This dedicated operation tackles those who may be involved in drug dealing, weapons offences, burglaries, and other serious violent offending, by using police intelligence to target vehicles being used for criminal activity.

In Surrey specifically, 13 people were arrested for a number of offences including theft of a motor vehicle, burglary, drugs offences, sexual assault, driving offences and stalking.

Detective Inspector Dee Fielding from Surrey Police, said: “As a police force our main objective is to keep the residents of Surrey as safe as possible. Criminals utilise the road network to carry out all sorts of offences, so by pooling resources and using police intelligence, officers were able to effectively target these people whilst they were on the move.

“Many of those arrested will be involved in organised crime and pose significant risk to our communities through drug dealing, exploitation, associated crimes like burglary. They often target vulnerable adults and children, so this cross-border working is vital in showing those involved in these types of crimes, that they are not welcome here or in any other Police force areas. 

“If you have any concerns about criminal activity in your local areas, or have any information, please let us know via 101 so that we can take action and improve our intelligence picture.”