MDP gang raid: Skorpion machine gun seized as 200 cops deal 'massive blow' to London gang in series of raids

Robin de Peyer12 April 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A Skorpion machine gun along with cash and class A drugs were seized by police as more than 200 officers dealt a “massive blow” to a notorious violent gang.

Scotland Yard officers arrested nine people including suspected senior members of a heroine and crack cocaine-dealing ‘MDP’ gang in west London last night.

An alleged drug-running boy, aged 14, arrested at his family home, was among those detained in eight raids in the Northolt, Greenford, Fulham and Brentford areas.

Those detained were held over offences such as conspiracy to supply drugs and possession of firearms.

At a house in Dorchester Close, Northolt, young children could be heard crying as dozens of officers flooded inside shouting: "Police".

Armed raid: Officers at an address in west London
Lucy Young

Elsewhere, as a police squad crept up to one seemingly empty address in Stephendale Road, Fulham, officers noticed a 30-year-old suspect sitting in a car.

During a search officers found a Skorpion machine pistol along with another handgun, 40 rounds of ammunition, and a kilo of suspected class A drugs, Scotland Yard said.

Detective Inspector Driss Hayoukane said: "This is a massive blow to an established gang.

A file image of a Skorpion sub-machine gun

"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."

Key gangsters drove flashy cars and showed off their wealth online with luxury holidays to places like Dubai, he added.

Arrest: a man is led away by police during the row
Lucy Young

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.

The operation was the result of about six months of planning by the Met's anti-gang Trident unit.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick, who accompanied officers on the raids, said the gang members were “very violent”.

She added: “They've been using violence, they've been exploiting vulnerable people and very young people, as young as 14, have been engaged in the drug dealing operation, so they need to be locked up.

"People like this, who may appear to have been operating with impunity for a period of time, cause devastation and fear.”

Asked if raids had been stepped up following a recent rise in violent crime in London, DI Hayoukane said: "It's business as usual for us, our unit works to capacity all the time."

Since the start of the year, there have been more than 50 suspected murders in London.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in