THREE men and a woman are to appear before magistrates in Peterlee this morning following an investigation into alleged blackmail.
Officers visited a number of addresses mainly in the Wingate, Station Town and Thornley areas shortly after 7.30pm on Wednesday.
The action was in connection with a long-running investigation into an alleged blackmail.
Six men and two women were arrested in total and four of the suspects have now been charged with perverting the course of justice.
The others have been released on police bail until the end of September pending further enquiries.
The address police visited in Thornley resulted in the arrest of 33-year-old man for possession of class A drugs.
He also has been bailed for four weeks pending further enquiries and this is a separate investigation from the blackmail case.
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