UK Edition
Scotland Yard raid sees 'corrupted children' of the MDP gang responsible for violence and drugs on London's streets arrested
A notorious London gang peddling crack cocaine and hoarding a sub-machine gun was raided by the Metropolitan Police last night in the latest crackdown on crime.
The police commissioner described some of those involved as "corrupted children", as police officers said the raid was directed at the MDP gang.
MDP stands for "Murder Dem P------" and the group has been linked to several murders.
Nine arrests were made, one of whom was a 14-year-old suspected drug runner, multiple firearms were seized and a large quantity of what is believed to be the Class A drugs crack cocaine and heroin was confiscated.
Scotland Yard said that among the confiscated goods was a vast amount of cash, a Škorpion machine pistol, another handgun, 40 rounds of ammunition and a kilogram of suspected class A drugs.
The co-ordinated raid on eight addresses in Northolt, Greenford, Fulham and Brentford comes as the Metropolitan Police has come under criticism for the spike in crime in London. The capital has accrued 55 open murder cases since the beginning of the year.
The raid has been named Operation Todhabi, and mainly targeted men in their late 20’s and 30’s who are suspected to be leading figures in the notorious gang.
Older members of the gang have been accused of using children to sell drugs as they reap the monetary benefits.
DI Driss Hayoukane said: "This is a massive blow to an established gang. What we’ve taken out is probably a line which has been supplying the Earl’s Court and Fulham areas.
"This gang have been running that line for quite a while and making a lot of money. These gangs have corrupted children and are using them to ferry drugs.
"If you look across London, these are the kids that are getting involved in violence and stabbings because they are generally on the streets while the suppliers are removed from it, collecting the cash."
He said that members of the gang took flashy holidays to Dubai, and had lavish collections of jewellery and watches as well as driving flashy cars and showing off their wealth online.
One address in Earl's Court had been "cuckooed", which happens when criminals take over a vulnerable person's or drug addict's flat to sell drugs from it - named after the parasitic practice of the cuckoo bird which lays its eggs in other birds' nests.
Overall, six males and three females, aged between 14 and 49, were arrested in the early hours of Thursday and are now in custody.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick had been on patrol in Hackney, inner London, on Wednesday evening, where she said gang tensions were high after a spate of stabbings in recent weeks, including the killing of 18-year-old Israel Ogunsola.
Speaking to reporters shortly before the raids, she said the suspects had been causing "devastation" and "fear" in communities.
She said: "They are very violent, several of them have a history of serious violence, at least one is suspected of regularly using a firearm.
"They will be arrested - not only have they been, as it appears to us, supplying crack cocaine and heroin, they've been making a huge amount of money.
"They've been exploiting vulnerable people and very young people have been engaged in the drug-dealing operation. So they need to be locked up."
She added: "When I arrived just over a year ago we've been stepping up our anti-violence operations, we've been learning along the way.
"In the last two weeks or so, and in particular since last weekend, we've been doing more and more. The Met is working very hard."
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said more raids were likely over the days and weeks ahead, commenting: "The huge Met operation last night targeted those involved in serious gangs and violent crime in London. It involved over 200 officers and resulted in nine arrests and the seizure of guns, ammunition and large quantities of what is believed to be Class A drugs.
"Those committing violent crime, including criminal gangs, will be targeted. Extra resources from City Hall are being used for more enforcement work for our police."