Purfleet container yard searched and four arrested in drug raids

Officers from the Metropolitan, Essex and British Transport Police joined for the operation on Wednesday, focusing on a commercial container yard in Purfleet, Essex.

Raid - officers at the containter yard

It is believed the gang used the site for storage, with investigators discovering drugs, cash, weapons and three stolen off-road vehicles in the first few hours of searching.

Police say the suspected gang operated in London and Lincolnshire.

Entry - Officers cutting open containers

County lines networks are urban drug dealers that sell illegal substances to a rural customer base and are notorious for exploiting children to act as couriers and taking over the homes of vulnerable people.

Detective Sergeant Owen Morgan, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "There's an undeniable link between drugs and violence, and it's crucial we continue to act on this.

"That's why disrupting the supply of drugs continues to form a central part of our work to tackle violence on the street.

"This operation will not only disrupt criminals using lock-up facilities to store their criminal property, but will also supply a wealth of information that, following this operation, will be fully investigated."

Raid - some of the officers on site

The four people arrested were one man detained at the yard on suspicion of possession of a firearm while three others - two men and a woman - were arrested for suspected drugs possession during connected raids on homes in Havering, east London.