Further crackdown on Bristol drugs

More than 900 people have been arrested in the last 18 months

More people have been arrested as part of a massive operation targeting drug dealers in inner city Bristol, say police.

A team of 400 officers, some of them armed, took part in dozens of raids over the last eight days in the St Paul's area of Bristol.

On Wednesday, a further two were arrested, one in St Paul's and another at Bristol Airport.

And on Thursday, a woman was arrested in St Paul's on suspicion of drug dealing.

They can run but they won't be able to hide Chief Superintendent Mike Roe

In total, 39 people have now been arrested - 27 of them from Jamaica - as part of Operation Mansion in the past week.

Seven were handed to the Immigration Service and will not be charged in the UK.

Operation Mansion was aimed at removing dealers, particularly in St Paul's, but also at reassuring the local community that something was being done.

Chief Superintendent Mike Roe said: "We've seen a significant increase in the number of people who have been able to come direct from Jamaica and deal drugs on the streets of our cities.

"In Jamaica and here there's an awful of work going on to make things difficult for people to bring drugs here.

"It has become too easy for people to be able to deal drugs. Our operation is tackling that problem and its causes. They can run but they won't be able to hide."

More than 990 people have been arrested in Bristol in the last 18 months as part of Operation Atrium, Avon and Somerset Police's main anti-drug dealing operation in the city.