More than £137,000 in drug money has been seized, 6,600 stop and searches for drugs and weapons have been carried out, and 306 weapons have been seized during a joint police and council operation.
Tower Hamlets Council and the Met Police have carried out 15 days of action, executing 96 search warrants from April 2022 to December 2022 as part of Operation Continuum, an ongoing partnership to tackle the drugs market in Tower Hamlets.
A total of 156 people were also charged with drugs trafficking offences, with a total of 397 separate drugs trafficking charges and 4,873 stop and searches carried out specifically for drugs.
Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, said:
“I made a promise to the people of Tower Hamlets that they would be able to walk our streets safely. Every weapon we remove from our streets and drug dealer taken out of this illegal economy brings us one step closer to delivering on that promise.
“I thank every employee of this borough who has worked tirelessly over this last year to build a safer Tower Hamlets.
“If you have information about drug trafficking in the Tower Hamlets community, you can pass it onto the police on 101, or to the Council via our website.”
Police sergeant Alvaro Aracena-Fuentes added:
“The success of this operation shows the importance of joint working between the council and police.
“Well done to everyone involved, but we are not stopping here. If you are involved in selling drugs in Tower Hamlets, we are coming for you.”
You can report ASB and drug-related activity to Tower Hamlets Council here. In an emergency, always call 999.
Posted on Friday 24th March 2023