Sixteen people have been arrested in the latest Teesside crackdown on organised crime, with more expected overnight.
Cleveland Police carried out raids, enforcement work and community engagement across Stockton today (Wednesday, October 21) in the latest Operation Artemis crackdown on serious and organised crime across Teesside.
Cleveland Police officers and colleagues from neighbouring forces gathered shortly before 8am, then deployed to targeted properties across Stockton.
Operation Artemis briefing, October 21 (Image: Cleveland Police)
The raids followed months of intelligence-gathering, including information from residents worried about crime and anti-social behaviour.
Police urged residents to keep reporting concerns, saying public information helps officers build the intelligence and evidence needed to act.
Ware Street (Image: FREYA CAIN-METCALF)
The operation started on Ware Street in Stockton, where two flats were among the first properties targeted.
Officers forced their way inside as part of the raid, finding one flat empty and two men, aged 24 and 32, inside the other.
(Image: Freya Cain-Metcalf)
About £10,000 worth of suspected cocaine was recovered from the property alongside scales and other drug-related equipment, while officers were later seen emerging with several evidence bags.
Rhea, a three-year-old cocker spaniel from a police dog unit, was brought in to help search for anything that may have been hidden inside the flats.
Rhea the police dog at an Operation Artemis raid (Image: Freya Cain-Metcalf)
Officers had also been alerted to the presence of a large dog before entering the property, allowing it to be secured in another room while searches were carried out.
The raid briefly transformed the normally residential street, with police vehicles and officers surrounding the building and signs warning passers-by that 'Operation Artemis' was in progress.
Operation Artemis (Image: Freya Cain-Metcalf)
Broken glass could be seen outside the property prior to the raid, as well as sandbags that had reportedly been placed in front of the block previously to deter house rammings following a recent rise in incidents.
One of the arrested men was led from the building without shoes, wearing bright pink socks, before being taken to a waiting police van.
(Image: Freya Cain-Metcalf)
The other was taken into a Matrix van to be searched before being moved to another police vehicle.
While searches continued inside, officers delivered leaflets to nearby homes explaining Operation Artemis and reassuring residents that information and concerns reported in the community were being acted upon.
(Image: Freya Cain-Metcalf)
Later in the day, Cleveland Police confirmed that another man had been arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A and B drugs during a separate raid on Denbigh Road in Billingham.
The operation has so far led to 16 arrests in Stockton.
PCC Matt Storey at an Operation Artemis raid. (Image: Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland)
A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: "The arrests are in connection with offences including drugs supply and theft from motor vehicles.
"Although we carry out this type of work every single day across all our communities, Operation Artemis pulls together resources and teams from across the force into one area to be highly visible in communities.
"As well as enforcement activity, officers have been conducting school visits and other public places today engaging with members of the public about current crime and anti-social behaviour."
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Earlier phases of Operation Artemis targeted areas including Redcar and Middlesbrough, involving more than 130 officers and 20 arrests.
Activity in Stockton is expected to continue into this evening, with further raids, enforcement work and community engagement planned as enquiries continue.
Cleveland Police said a full update on arrests and the wider activity carried out during the operation would be provided tomorrow (Thursday, October 22).