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The armed police have launched a major operation to combat firearm crime in the capital.
Several hundred officers raided the site of a traveler in south-east London and arrested several suspects police believe to have been involved in supplying firearms to criminal gangs.
In the largest police operation of its kind in recent years, officers entered the camp in Orpington shortly before 3 a.m.
Sky News was granted exclusive access to follow the operation as dozens of armed teams, including Scotland Yard’s elite anti-terrorism firearms officers, used flash-bang distraction devices to enter buildings and static caravans on site.
Several hundred officers entered a site in Orpington in the middle of the night.
The armed units had the support of hundreds of other agents from the TSG public order unit of the Metropolitan Police and local agents from the team of safer neighborhoods in the area.
So far, police have made seven arrests and detailed searches of the site and surrounding land are likely to continue throughout the day.
Commander Kyle Gordon, in charge of the arms command of the Metropolitan Police, oversaw the raids from the Scotland Yard Special Operations Center in central London.
He said the operation was “high risk” and required significant law enforcement resources to ensure the site could be safely contained.
“There are a lot of fast-moving parts in an operation like this. But seeing the teams operating the way they have, collaborating to come in and achieve their goals, has been something I was very pleased to see.
“We made it to the site. We now have control of the site and have located several of the people we were looking to speak to and now they are going to help with this ongoing investigation.”
It was the largest police operation of its kind in recent years
As armed and unarmed officers arrived on the scene, a police helicopter and drone transmitted live images of the operation to the command center.
The raids follow a worrying increase in firearm crime in the capital since the lifting of the blockade.
In July, there were 40 shootings in London, compared to 24 during the same period in 2019.
In 2019, the police seized 303 firearms capable of producing lethal discharges. So far in 2020, 178 firearms have been seized in the capital, despite a widespread drop in violent crime during the four-month shutdown.
Commander Gordon said: “Violent crime is the Met’s number one priority, we have been clear on that goal and this is the kind of operation we must do to address violence in the capital.
“One of the things around this operation is that we are looking to get the supply of arms and ammunition that are used on the streets of London and obtain them at source, to prevent them from going out on the streets in the first place and in the hands of criminals first. “
Detailed searches of the site and surrounding land continue
The commander said the initial intelligence, which triggered the main operation and plans for the raids, came from local officials in Orpington, part of the Met’s Safer Neighborhoods team in that area.
“The strength of the safer neighborhood teams is that they work with local partners and with local communities.
“They are aware of how normality should look within their areas and as long as they become aware of information and intelligence within the area that points to real damage problems on the streets, they will raise it and we will be able to obtain resources to respond to those problems. “.
The raids follow a worrying increase in firearm crime in the capital since the lifting of the blockade.
The raids were disturbing for a time, with local residents reporting multiple heavy blows and noise from the police helicopter in the early hours.
But police believe the operation has been vital and has had a significant impact on the supply of lethal firearms in the capital.
Those arrested have been taken into custody for questioning, while teams of specialists continue to search the static caravans and other properties, as well as the lands adjacent to the site.
