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Thursday 4 August 2011

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300 officers swooped on the Pembury Boys gang - whose members are allegedly linked to a series of shootings, rapes, assaults and major drug dealing.

Reportage - 05:53

Police today raided a notorious London street gang using tactics similar to the cult US TV series The Wire.

More than 300 officers swooped on the Pembury Boys gang - whose members are allegedly linked to a series of shootings, rapes, assaults and major drug dealing.

A total of 32 addresses were raided at dawn across east London in a hunt for 26 known gang members and their associates. By midday 23, including two women, had been arrested.

Searches recovered a large quantity of class A drugs, including crack cocaine and heroin, an imitation firearm and more than £8,000 in cash. Officers also recovered 40 mobile phones and more than 60 Sim cards.

Detectives likened the operation to the fictional TV series The Wire, set in the US city of Baltimore, because of its length, the fact it targeted the senior and middle-ranking echelons of the gang and its use of covert tactics.

Commander Peter Spindler, the head of covert operations at Scotland Yard, said police had thrown the "full might of covert policing" against the gang including the use of "human intelligence, technical surveillance and covert surveillance". Sources said the arrests came after an 18-month operation, the longest covert inquiry conducted by the Met.

Most of the arrests took place on the Pembury estate in Hackney. The Pembury Boys are reputed to be one of London's most violent street gangs.

In a unique move the operation was heavily funded by Hackney council. Housing and probation officials worked alongside police officers. Det Insp Rhys Willis, who organised the operation, said: "We are taking out suspects who we believe are flooding Hackney and the surrounding areas with drugs. This operation will remove a swathe of gang members and violent criminals from the streets."

Specialist officers using hydraulic battering rams smashed their way into homes during today's raids. Shortly before 6am officers burst through the grilles of a fifth-floor flat on a council estate in Shoreditch. Inside, a 41-year-old man was arrested and officers found a silver imitation handgun, half a kilogram of heroin, cocaine and at least £1,000 in cash. Det Chief Insp Gary Bruce said: "This is not a one-off initiative. We are concentrating all the resources of Hackney police and the council to break the gang culture."

Police said those arrested were held for firearms and drugs related offences. Sources said many of those arrested were allegedly senior gang members.

One claimed: "Many of them operated below the radar. The only way we can get to them is through a long running operation such as this. They were involved in all forms of gang activity and enjoyed expensive lifestyles with no visible means of support.

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