AN international manhunt was under way last night after police smashed a major drugs ring.

An unnamed man was believed to have fled abroad as detectives began questioning seven others about a drugs operation said to have an £8m turnover and a supply network covering the North-East, West Yorkshire and the South Coast.

More than 100 police officers took part in synchronised dawn raids across Teesside and County Durham yesterday.

Officers from Cleveland Police arrested five men and two women, all aged between 18 and 30, in 12 homes in Middlesbrough town centre.

Meanwhile, 24 detectives from Durham Police swooped on two houses in Bishop Auckland, where documents and telephones were seized.

Almost £65,000 in cash, some of it hidden in a suitcase, cannabis, heroin and an illegal CS gas canister were recovered, with day long house searches being conducted by specialist squads.

The planning for Operation Bridport started last October, a spokesman said last night.

Undercover police discovered that the gang members shipped drugs money abroad for investment in foreign businesses.

Gang members avoided flash lifestyles, designer clothes and expensive cars, choosing instead to live in simple terrace houses and drive cars described by police as run of the mill.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Kelly, Cleveland Police's head of crime, said: "The people behind it had set up a sophisticated and complex system of street dealers.

"These people thought they were untouchable. From dawn today, they found they were not."

Detective Superintendent Gordon Lang said: "Today represents a significant haul. We will have made a difference.''

As for the man who escaped, he added: "We are putting the necessary steps in place to make sure that person is proceeded against.''

Det Chief Supt Kelly paid tribute to the dedicated officers of the force's Organised Crime Unit, who he said worked slowly and carefully and set their own timetable.

Hhe warned other drug peddlars: "We have a simple message for the drug dealers of this area. We know who you are and we are coming to arrest you."