Armed police have launched a major operation to tackle gun crime in the capital.
Several hundred officers raided a travellers’ site in southeast London and arrested a number of suspects police believe have been involved in supplying firearms to criminal gangs.
In the largest police operation of its type in recent years, officers entered the camp in Orpington shortly before 3am.
It was the largest police operation of its type in recent years
Sky News was granted exclusive access to follow the operation, as dozens of armed teams, including Scotland Yard’s elite Counter Terrorism Specialist Firearms Officers, used flash-bang distraction devices to enter buildings and static caravans on the site.
The armed units were supported by hundreds of other officers from the Metropolitan Police’s TSG public order unit and local officers from the area’s safer neighbourhood team.
So far, police have made seven arrests and detailed searches of the site and surrounding land are likely to continue throughout the day.