Raids target £100m drugs network

About 500 police officers were involved in raids on 30 homes and business premises and 111 kilograms of cocaine, worth £5.5m, was seized.

At one fortified house a digger was used to smash through a perimeter wall.

Detective Superintendent Steve Richardson said the raids had struck a "huge blow" to the drugs industry.

He said the network were believed to have processed around £100m in the last six months, most of it believed to be the proceeds of drug trafficking.

Police seized large quantities of cash and a number of guns during the raids at addresses across London, Surrey, Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire.

Sledgehammers

At a house in Hillingdon, west London, a police driver used a digger to break through the brick and steel perimeter wall shortly after 0500 GMT as a police helicopter hovered overhead.

Dozens of officers using sledgehammers and angle grinders burst into the house seconds later.

"We have targeted the key players in a serious and organised criminal network culminating in a huge blow to the illegal drugs industry in the UK"
Det Supt Steve Richardson

A 40-year-old man was arrested and several vehicles, including two Mercedes, a Hummer and a four-wheel drive Porsche parked outside were seized.

At another address in West Molesey, 30 officers burst into a house and searched two cars outside. A 54-year-old man of Egyptian origin was arrested.

Detectives said they believed a business had been used as a front for a massive criminal enterprise which involved laundering money from the proceeds of trafficking in cocaine and cannabis.

Police said those involved were from a variety of backgrounds. Some were "born and bred Londoners" while others were Irish, Israeli and Iraqi nationals.

Operation Eaglewood

Det Supt Richardson, who headed Operation Eaglewood, said: "Today's operation has been hugely successful. We have targeted the key players in a serious and organised criminal network culminating in a huge blow to the illegal drugs industry in the UK.

"These criminals have been living the lives of wealthy businessmen through criminal activity and today we have put a stop to this. We believe this network has been supplying drugs around the country, earning millions of pounds every week."

He said the investigation had succeeded in "taking out a group of ruthless and determined criminals who sought to profit from the sale of illegal drugs".

Detective Inspector Martin Ford said the gang used a small number of bureaux de change to launder their "dirty money".

He said: "They have been laundering between £3m and £4m a week. They will take a suitcase full of £10 and £20 notes and exchange it for 500 euro notes.

"The beauty of the 500 euro note is that it's the highest denomination that is universally accepted. So they can convert a suitcase-worth of sterling into a quantity of euros which will fit in a small box."

Police said they believed at least one of the bureaux de change was involved in the criminal enterprise.

Among the other raids were: