Hundreds of kilograms of class A drugs have been seized, along with bags of cash and guns, in police raids across eastern England as part of the UK’s biggest ever law enforcement operation.
Since April, the Eastern Regional Special Operations Units (ERSOU) and local police forces have been undertaking a series of operations targeting prominent criminals, with over 350kg of cocaine, £2.5 million in cash and nine guns seized.
In addition, 46 people were arrested across 55 separate investigations.
Notable results included nearly £650,000 in cash found at a residential address in Kent in June, and 280kg of pressed cocaine located in a container in Purfleet, Essex in May. The drugs have a street value of over £10 million.
The operation, which involved ERSOU officers working alongside the National Crime Agency (NCA) and forces across the region, is the most significant law enforcement action of its kind ever in the UK.
Details have until this point been withheld to ensure that as many criminals were apprehended as possible.
Individuals were targeted in a wave of activity following intelligence shared by European partners relating to messages sent via an encrypted criminal communication system called Encrochat.
The intelligence allowed investigators to understand the illicit activity of people using the system and showed the scale of criminal businesses operating across multiple countries.
The national response, led by the NCA, has ensured that by monitoring thousands of handsets and analysing millions of messages, a number of dangers have been mitigated, including threats to life, murder conspiracies, and the seizure of dangerous firearms and drugs.
D/C/Supt. Simon Parkes, from ERSOU, said: “This is perhaps the most important law enforcement operation to take place in the Eastern region; the results are not just significant in terms of the cash, drugs and guns seized, but also represent a huge step forward in disrupting the operations of criminal gangs in our communities.
“Until now, some criminals have been able to function below the radar using the Encrochat system. This gave them means of communicating between each other which they thought were safe. They thought they were evading law enforcement but this same technology is now being used directly against them.
“These results are a testament to the dedication and relentless work of intelligence professionals, covert officers and investigators from ERSOU and the police forces across the east of England.
“This side of policing is seldom seen by the public but throughout the UK Coronavirus lockdown they have worked tirelessly to apprehend these dangerous individuals. I’d like to praise them for their extraordinary work over the last few months.
“To those continuing to cause misery to others through their involvement in serious and organised criminal; we have shown that we will find you, we will use all lawful means to capture the evidence against you and we will place you before the courts.”
