Cleveland Police raids net 17 arrests after A66 crash killed two officers

Cleveland Police arrested 17 people in organised crime raids across Teesside, weeks after a wrong-way crash on the A66 killed two officers and five others.

Organised crime raids follow deadly A66 crash near Middlesbrough

Cleveland Police carried out a series of early morning raids targeting suspected organised crime figures across South Bank, Grangetown and Eston on Monday, bbc.co.uk reports.

Seventeen people were arrested during the operation, which involved around 130 officers — including personnel from the National Crime Agency. A convoy of approximately a dozen vans began moving shortly after 08:00 BST, with patrol cars temporarily blocking roads. Officers used battering rams to force entry to several properties as parents walked past with children on the school run.

Those detained were arrested on suspicion of a range of offences including drugs and assault.

The raids form part of a high-profile response to a crash on the nearby A66 last month, which occurred at the end of a police pursuit. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died at the scene, along with all five occupants of a Volkswagen Passat that had been travelling the wrong way down the road and struck a Cleveland Police armed response vehicle head-on.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hall said public support following the crash had been "absolutely phenomenal". "It's clear criminality of any sort is not welcome on these estates and we are here to tell those people we've heard their concerns and we will act," he said.

Cleveland's Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey said visibility on the streets mattered. "This makes people more reassured about what is really going on in their communities. They see people arrested, charged and taken off the streets," he said. "It shows the public good work is happening, despite the problems we have."

Source: Google News UK — Crime (en)