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24
Sept
Premises raided and arrests made in North Yorkshire Police's 'biggest ever operation'
The biggest operation in the history of North Yorkshire Police was carried out yesterday (Wednesday, September 23), resulting in dozens of arrests, weapons seized and cash recovered, all within 24 hours.
Operation Super Tornado Two saw officers deployed across York and North Yorkshire to target serious and organised crime and those causing the greatest harm to communities.
Officers, PCSOs and specialist teams joined forces with partner agencies and neighbouring police forces to pursue offenders, disrupt organised crime and protect vulnerable people.
Police bringing in a suspect.
Over the 24-hour period, 64 arrests were made, 14 warrants executed, four wanted people located and six weapons seized, as well as 14 vehicles and £3,750 in cash recovered.
Significant quantities of drugs were also seized, including a cannabis cultivation in Northallerton with an estimated street value of around £1 million.
As part of activity targeting organised immigration crime, officers and partners visited 12 high-street premises, and closed one premises in York linked to the sale of illegal tobacco. During these visits £1,280 was seized from a nail bar as suspected proceeds of crime, and 13,000 illegal cigarettes were also seized.
Officers visited City Store on Station Parade in Harrogate as part of the operation.
Alongside this enforcement activity, police teams engaged with the public as part of efforts to prevent fraud, rural crime and exploitation, and encourage road safety, and more than 380 children received school visits from officers.
North Yorkshire Police also deployed live facial recognition for the first time in York, which generated 12 positive matches to the individuals on the watchlist. As a result, officers made one arrest, stopped and checked eight individuals subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders, and engaged with two people linked to intelligence-related alerts.
Officers also spoke with members of the public throughout the operation, explaining how the technology works, why it was being used, and answering questions from those passing by.
Live facial recognition was deployed in the region for the first time.
Teams also worked closely with partner agencies and neighbouring police forces, with specialist resources deployed across the road network throughout the force area to target criminals on the move. Criminals do not respect geographical boundaries, and effective policing relies on working together to disrupt those who seek to exploit them.
Chief Constable Tim Forber of North Yorkshire Police said:
Our teams are out there day in, day out, tackling organised crime, pursuing offenders, protecting vulnerable people and engaging with the communities we serve. Super Tornado Two allows us to bring those efforts together on a much larger scale, increasing our visibility and maximising our impact.
To those who believe they can bring drugs, violence and criminality into our communities, our message is clear. We will come after you, we will disrupt your activities and we will use every tactic available to us to make North Yorkshire a hostile place for criminals.
And to our communities, thank you. The information you provide us is invaluable. It helps us identify offenders, safeguard vulnerable people and direct our resources to where they are needed most.
Officers executing an arrest warrant.
Activity took place across all of North Yorkshire Police’s command areas, with resources brought together from across the force to provide a very visible policing presence and target local priorities.
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