After an intensive 12 month Police investigation by the Serious and Organized Crime Unit (SOCU) on organized crime and gangs operating in North and West Kent, South London, Edenbridge and Sevenoaks. Police officers and special squads raided homes across the region and swooped on possible suspects last week in a series of dawn raids, which resulted in 13 arrests.
This operation was targeted at a wide range of criminal activity, which has been prevalent for many months, involving cash machine thefts, robberies, burglaries, and thefts of metals such as lead.
Chief Superintendent Mark Salisbury of the West Kent Police remarked that a variety of intelligence sources had helped close the net on theses gangs, and that the information from local community sources had been highly significant. He went on to emphasise that the Neighbourhood Watch schemes had proved invaluable. The gangs had been operating in these areas for many months and these raids have proved successful at disrupting their operations.
Police in the Kent area are determined to stamp out underworld and criminal activity, and are pleased that these raids are reaping results, which in turn will help the public living in the local communities to have greater confidence in the police force.
The final summing up by Chief Superintendent Salisbury was, ‘these raids will have sent out a very clear message to those potentially involved in criminal activities and gangs, that Kent is not the place to operate their business.’
