Police carry out dawn drugs raids in Woking

Jul 2 2009 By Russell Butt

Police have carried out dawn raids in Woking

SURREY police joined forces with officers from Hampshire this morning in a series of dawn drug raids across Woking.

The slickly coordinated operation, codenamed Mudstone, took place at 6am when the doors of 14 homes in the borough were simultaneously bashed open in a search for heroin and crack cocaine.

Following hot on the heels of successful dawn raids during National Tackling Drugs Week last month, this latest operation was hoped to produce 11 arrests plus seizures of Class A drugs and stolen property.

The whole custody centre at Woking Police Station was set aside to deal with processing the expected arrests.

The operation began with a 4am briefing at Surrey Police Headquarters, in Guildford, before 45 Surrey and 25 Hampshire officers departed in 13 vans for their respective rendezvous points prior to the raids.

Each team comprised a mix of detectives, dog handlers, search teams and specialist rapid entry units.

Guildford CID detective, DI John Cable said the raids were based on information gathered over the past couple of months.

He added: "Operation Mudstone is focused on disrupting the activities of dealers in the borough and disrupting the supply of illegal drugs.

"We will be charging and putting offenders discovered on the raids to the courts straight away. Operation Mudstone will help in keeping the streets of Woking safe."

News of the arrests and seizures to follow.