'Let's get these people out of bed': Boris joins Met chief on drug raid

Drug dens and cannabis factories were shut down as about 4,000 Safer Neighbourhoods officers carried out operations in every London borough.

The raids were ordered by new Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe as the latest "Big Wing" operation to target specific crime problems - a tactic inspired by the Battle of Britain.

Mr Hogan-Howe attended one raid with Boris Johnson as about 30 officers targeted a suspected drug dealer on a Peckham estate. However, officers failed to find Class A drugs in the 18-year-old's flat after breaking down the door, and were forced to let him go.

Today saw more than 300 operations targeting drug dealers, burglars and thieves. By late morning police had made nearly 100 arrests.

More than 200 cannabis plants were discovered in Newham and 200 wraps of Class A drugs were found hidden in a vacuum cleaner in Tower Hamlets. Three samurai swords were seized during a drugs raid in Richmond.

The raids, dubbed Operation Hawk, used tip-offs from the public to decide which properties to target.

Addressing officers during a briefing today Mr Johnson said: "Let's get these people out of bed." He was also heard asking Mr Hogan-Howe: "Is this all for one guy?" After the raid the Mayor said: "These kinds of people could be at the centre of all sorts of criminality and could be causing all sorts of misery around the neighbourhood.

"It is incredibly important that [the police] show Londoners... that when they report people causing misery, they can expect the police to come with some big battering rams. These people are going to get a battering ram through the door before they've had breakfast."

The operation began last week with a series of radio ads urging Londoners to pass intelligence about crime and drug dealing to officers.

Mr Hogan-Howe, who used the tactic when he was chief constable of Merseyside, said: "We are getting into the faces of criminals and trying to get them on the back foot. This is not about being aggressive or reckless. We are hoping it will have a massive effect."

Mr Johnson also criticised a High Court judge who ruled that swearing at police is no longer a crime because officers hear bad language too often to be offended. Mr Justice Bean last week overturned the public order conviction of 20-year-old Denzel Harvey, who repeatedly used the F-word while being searched for drugs.

The Mayor said: "It may be necessary to take this up in Parliament. Officers are entitled... to some basic level of respect. When I was a child I would not have got away with swearing at a policeman."