A video has been released by West Midlands Police which shows the moment dozens of officers dramatically raided homes across Birmingham as part of a crackdown on drug dealers in the city.
In the footage police can be seen breaking down the door into one home before arresting the suspect inside. In another, sniffer dogs and specialist search teams can be seen scouring the properties for drugs, cash, weapons and other evidence.
Following the raids nine men and one woman, aged between 30 and 50, were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply dangerous class A drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. The simultaneous dawn stings on 17 September − the second lot this week − were executed by West Midlands Polices Operations Support unit.
Chief Inspector Richard Agar, who is leading the crackdown, said, These intelligence-led raids are the result of months of careful planning sparked by community concerns about people dealing drugs.
Having shared their concerns with us, our officers pieced the information together and presented this to magistrates who agreed that there were sufficient grounds to grant search warrants. Those arrested will now be interviewed as our inquiries into the alleged drug dealing continue.
On 15 September 10 men and a woman were arrested and one kilogram of suspected heroin and other items were seized as part of the operation codenamed No Deal. All of the men were later charged with conspiracy to supply drugs while the woman was released on police bail.
