Seven arrests in cross-county Operation Claymore

We have arrested seven people and seized more than a dozen vehicles in a joint operation on Essex’s borders with London and Hertfordshire.

Operation Claymore is Essex Police-led but also involves officers from the Hertfordshire and Metropolitan police forces.

The cross-force team track down vehicles believed to be involved in crime using hits from automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, supported by officers from the Operational Support Group (OSG), our dog, roads, and community policing teams, as well as the National Police Air Service (NPAS).

More than 50 officers across the three forces were involved in the operation overnight on Sunday 17 November, arresting three men on suspicion of possessing with intent to supply Class B drugs.

One of these, a 29-year-old man, was stopped by the team where they found several small bags of suspected Class B drugs and more than £400 in cash in his vehicle. He was also wanted for immigration offences and has been transferred to immigration services.

Two other men, aged 22 and 19, were travelling together in a Smart car near Theydon Bois when they were stopped. They were also found to be in possession of several bags of what appeared to be cannabis and cash, as well as mobile phones and a knife.

They were both arrested on suspicion of possessing with intent to supply Class B drugs and possession of a bladed article and are released under investigation while officers make further enquiries.

A Nissan Juke was also detected using false number plates and was believed to have been stolen from east London in September. Officers brought the vehicle to a stop and established the driver was also wanted for burglary.

The two men in the vehicle were both arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and taken into the custody of the Metropolitan Police, and the passenger was further arrested on suspicion of possessing a Class B drug.

Two more men were stopped with officers establishing they were wanted for immigration offences and have been transferred to immigration services, and we also arrested another man wanted by Thames Valley Police.

On top of this, we took 13 vehicles off the roads for lacking insurance, and issued drivers with a further 18 Traffic Offence Reports (TOR).

Detective Superintendent Dan Morrissey said Op Claymore showed the forces are ready to disrupt would-be criminals trying to operate in the region:

“Criminals don’t stay in one force’s area to commit their offences so by working with our neighbours and sharing intelligence, we can obstruct them, we can detect them and we can arrest them.
“Crimes like car theft are used by organised gangs to enable their drug dealing. We know the impact this has on individuals and communities, and we will hunt down those responsible.
“When incidents and ANPR hits were reported, our officers' quick and decisive actions saw suspects linked to a number of serious offences apprehended.”

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