Police arrest 17 as part of investigation into suspected organised crime group

Police have arrested 17 people as part of an investigation into a suspected organised crime group.

The Metropolitan Police said the arrests were part of dawn raids at 24 properties in London and four other counties.

More than 800 officers took part in the operations in the early hours of Tuesday - at addresses in London, Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk.

Searches are ongoing at a number of the properties and there is expected to be an ongoing police presence for some days.

An officer taking part in the operation was stabbed in the leg while carrying out a warrant at an address in Cockfosters, Barnet.

He was treated at the scene by colleagues and paramedics before being taken to hospital where his injuries were assessed as non-life-changing, the Met said.

This arrests are the product of an investigation by Met detectives working alongside HMRC and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the force added. Officers from HMRC and the FCA are supporting the searches.

As part of the wider operation, the FCA has disrupted seven firms and is actively pursuing a further 30, the Met said.

A force spokesperson said: "These arrests mark a significant point in this investigation. Those arrested are suspected of leading or being involved at a senior level in serious and organised crime and related financial offending.

"We know the impact of serious and organised crime stretches well beyond those at senior levels of the organisations involved.

"Lines can often be drawn from the top, all the way to those involved in the criminality that blights communities, including serious violence and exploitation."

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The arrests included 15 men aged between 26 and 65, and two women aged 31 and 41.

Twelve men and one woman were held on suspicion of participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

Other offences included money laundering, cheating the public revenue, false accounting, and conspiracy to commit GBH.

A 56-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of GBH over the stabbing.

An FCA spokesperson said: "Tackling financial crime requires the type of partnership shown by today's joint action and the many months of close cooperation leading to it."

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