Officers from the Metropolitan and Essex Police arrested a total of 36 people in a joint effort to tackle travelling criminals across both borders.
The arrests were made on Tuesday, 25 November as part of Operation Lockdown for offences that included burglary, robbery, impersonating a police officer, possession of an offensive weapon, possession with intent to supply drugs and affray.
The operation saw officers from Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Newham, Barking and Dagenham, Enfield and Haringey boroughs out in force to disrupt travelling criminals and prevent cross-border crime.
The primary aim of the operation was to target offenders using the road network across east London. Officers were supported by specialist officers from the Road Policing Unit, Territorial Support Group and the Mounted Branch.
Working alongside Essex police, officers used a variety of tactics from proactive patrols in marked Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) interception vehicles, to static ANPR points in areas suffering local crime issues.
Officers were deployed in plain clothes and in uniform.
Essex Police officers were supported by officers from Havering and Redbridge boroughs to police the borders. This was set up to prevent displacement of crime, share intelligence and effectively tackle travelling criminals.
A total of 40 vehicles were seized for primarily having no insurance and licence offences. Also during the operation, one stolen vehicle was recovered.
Hackney – arrests included two for burglary.
Tower Hamlets – arrests included one for being in possession of 140 small bags of cannabis and one suspected rock of crack cocaine.
Waltham Forest – arrests included four for possession of Class B drugs and the recovery of five large bags of cannabis. Further cannabis was seized during an address search warrant.
Redbridge – arrests included two for possession of both Class A and B drugs.
Havering – included an arrest of a prolific offender for driving offences.
Newham – included the arrests of three people being wanted for different offences.
Barking and Dagenham – included arrests for possession of an offensive weapon, burglary and an offence of impersonating a police officer.
Enfield – Four arrests were made, which included three suspected gang members for offences of affray and GBH.
Haringey – A man was arrested for an offence of GBH and officers used a veriety of resources to target gang activity on the borough.