TWENTY-SIX people were arrested across Bromley yesterday (March 27) and drugs with a street value of £560,000 were recovered in a major crackdown against drug dealers and cannabis factories.

Sixteen Operation Hawk raids took place throughout the day as hundreds of safer neighbourhood team officers, alongside specialist colleagues, executed drug warrants in their area.

Cannabis factories were found at addresses in Augustine Road, St Paul’s Cray (350 cannabis plants and £5,000 cash), Sherbourne Road in St Mary Cray (100 cannabis plants), Blythe Hill in Orpington (70 cannabis plants), Rushdene Walk in Biggin Hill (25 cannabis plants and a quantity of Class A drugs).

A further cannabis factory was found at an address in Tudor Court in Dartford, linked to the Augustine Road address raided earlier in the day (110 cannabis plants).

Drugs were also recovered at addresses in Cattistock Road in Mottingham and at Blandford Road in Clock House.

A stun gun was recovered from an address in Brewery Road in Bromley Common. The street value of the drugs recovered totalled nearly £560,000.

Police also took enforcement action against two brothels operating on the borough, in partnership with the UK Border Agency.

Six uninsured vehicles were removed from the borough's streets during the operation.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Furphy, who led the operation in the borough, said: "Drug dealing and cannabis cultivation damage communities and generates organised and violent crime, money laundering and anti-social behaviour.

“Operation Hawk was action taken against organised criminality, with the assistance of London's communities, many of whom cite tackling 'drugs' as a priority for local Safer Neighbourhoods teams.

“The purpose of the operation was to both reinforce what we do on a daily basis in targeting criminals head on and to provide further public reassurance to residents across Bromley through visible, high-impact policing.”

Operation Hawk was a Met-wide operation which saw 382 people arrested across the capital.