POLICE launched a co-ordinated series of dawn raids in a bid to take out drug dealing lines bringing misery and violence to the streets.

In total, 100 officers were deployed at 13 properties in a bid to dismantle two so-called county line drug dealing operations.

Suspected class A drugs, a four figure sum of cash and a stun gun were seized in the raids.

Detectives have been working on the initiative codenamed Op Cheta for seven months.

It is part of Operation Sceptre which aims to tackle serious violent crime in public places.

Specialist officers targeted properties simultaneously across north Essex and in the capital before dawn yesterday with more premises raided over the next few hours.

In total, 13 people were arrested on suspicion of drug-related offences.

Investigators were hoping to arrest the top dogs in the system and aim higher than low level dealers.

Gazette:

County lines is a system of drug dealing where people from metropolitan areas travel to more rural locations to deal drugs typically crack cocaine and heroin.

Young people are often recruited into the system to act as runners and dealers while those in control remain in London.

Addressing officers ahead of the raids at a police base near Chelmsford, Supt Ed Wells explained how important the initiative was.

He said: “We are targeting county lines and all associated violence and exploitation of vulnerability which comes with it.

“Several months of hard work has led us to this point and it is a fantastic opportunity to have a real impact.”

The Gazette was invited to a 6am raid at a bedsit in Wellesley Road, Clacton, where officers smashed in the door at one of the properties.

A man who had been sleeping when officers arrived was arrested.

Initial inquiries did not uncover any drugs but officers were planning to continue their search throughout the day.

Officers wearing riot gear escorted the suspect to a police vehicle where he was allowed to finish his cigarette before being conveyed to custody.

We were then taken to a static caravan at Highfield Grange Holiday Park in Clacton where £500 in cash was recovered and approximately 100 wraps of what is believed to be class A drugs.

A flat in Lyndhurst Road, Holland-on-Sea, was then raided in the second phase of the operation with a man and a teenage boy taken into custody for questioning.

Other premises targeted were in St John’s Road, Coppins Road, Robertson Close and Dudley Road in Clacton, Purvis Way in Colchester, Martens Meadow in Braintree, John Ruskin Street, in Kennington, London, South Countess Road, Walthamstow and Tony Rawson Way, Dagenham.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Wells said: “A team of detectives has been working over the last seven months to gather evidence against criminals selling illegal drugs and exploiting vulnerable people in our communities.

“Today the residents of Clacton have seen the result of that hard work as nearly 100 specialist officers forced entry to addresses in a series of ‘dawn raids’, arresting suspects and searching for drugs, cash, weapons and other evidence.

“This operation is an example of the extensive and varied work that officers are doing every day to make Essex a hostile place for criminals who seek to sell drugs and exploit vulnerable people in our communities.

“We are committed to doing everything we can to take robust action against these criminal groups and any other individuals who try to fill the gap left by county lines that we dismantle.”

Anyone with information about drug dealers can call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.