500 police storm homes to smash gang that terrorised an estate

Around 500 officers, including 65 equipped with firearms, stormed 21 addresses linked to the gang.

A total of 17 people were seized and Scotland Yard said manhunts were under way for at least four fugitives.

Those detained - including two alleged women gang members - are all linked to a "loosely associated" crime network operating out of the South Kilburn Estate in west London. Residents considered the gang untouchable, police said.

The synchronised 4am raids were launched after a year-long surveillance operation - Operation Saunton - during which undercover officers were able to buy five handguns from the gang for £800 each.

In a high-risk operation the undercover officers posed as gangsters to buy the weapons - as well as ammunition and a silencer - which included two powerful 9mm semiautomatic pistols and a Smith & Wesson handgun.

Today a fleet of more than 50 police vehicles left their Hendon base at 3am after a 45-minute briefing.

In one raid 20 unarmed officers from the Territorial Support Group stormed a flat in Charteris Road, Kilburn. The officers battered down the door of the flat in the quiet tree-lined road shouting "Freeze, Police" as they rushed in.

Inside they arrested a 17-year-old and his mother after finding a stash of cocaine. The teenager initially confronted them with a six-inch carving knife but was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.

In another property in Fielding House, on the South Kilburn Estate, another teenager was arrested on suspicion of supplying class A drugs.

Those arrested in the raids were mainly black, British men, in their late teens and early twenties. Police said those held included the main ringleaders of the group.

They were all taken for questioning to various police stations across London. Police said they had seized four kilos of cocaine and a quantity of ammunition in this morning's raids, in addition to the five handguns and two kilos of cocaine recovered in the main operation.

No shots were fired during the operation. The guns bought by police also included two Brocock sporting pistols which had been converted to fire real ammunition.

Detective Chief Superintendent, Barry Norman, in charge of the operation, said: "This morning's arrests have been the culmination of a lengthy operation to target those who we believe are involved in serious criminal activity, some of which include firearms and drugs offences.

"We are talking about crime that has blighted this community. These are criminals at the top end of the scale. The operation is in direct response to intelligence provided by the local community through our Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

"This operation has focused on those who are seen as untouchable to local residents. No one is untouchable. We will continue to target prolific offenders involved in drug dealing, firearms and other criminality.

"We cannot allow people perceived to be successful through their criminality to have a negative impact on our communities."