POLICE arrested a dozen people in a series of early-morning raids targeting suspected drug dealers across Darlington and other areas.

At 7.30am on Monday teams of officers swooped on houses across Darlington, Trimdon village, Barnard Castle, Great Smeaton in North Yorkshire and Bradford in West Yorkshire.

Seven men and three women, aged between 25 and 50, were arrested in the County Durham, Darlington and North Yorkshire raids with officers from West Yorkshire Police making a further two arrests in Bradford on behalf of Durham Constabulary.

With the exception of the Bradford suspects, two men aged 30 and 43 who are being held in West Yorkshire, all those arrested are currently in custody at police stations across the Durham and Darlington area.

All were detained on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class ‘A’ drugs.

Addresses targeted across the Darlington area included Clifton Road, Hundens Lane, Napier Street and Pemberton Terrace in Middleton-St-George.

The action on Monday morning was under the banner of ‘Operation Sledgehammer’, the force’s long-running campaign to tackle serious and organised crime.

“This operation was aimed at targeting those we suspect to be involved in organised crime, especially the supply of drugs. We are very satisfied with the results and with other enquiries in hand, we expect to make more arrests over the next few days,” said Det Insp Nicola Lawrence.

  • Anyone who has information about drug dealing or any other criminal activity in their area is urged to call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.