Teenagers questioned after machete and cannabis seized in Staffordshire

Police are questioning three teenagers after finding a machete and cannabis during warrants in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Local officers carried out a number of warrants in the Staffordshire town while looking into leads concerning a group of individuals they believe may be selling drugs to young people in the area.

They searched three houses in Kidsgrove on the morning of Thursday 8 June and recovered around £1,000 in cannabis and a machete.

Three boys, aged 16, 15 and 13, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, are due to be interviewed in relation to the findings and remain under investigation.

Sergeant Daniel Egerton, of the Newcastle-under-Lyme local policing team, said: "We are continuing to proactively target those responsible for distributing illegal drugs and exploiting vulnerable people within our communities.

"Disruption teams and local officers are regularly looking into intelligence leads and taking enforcement action to make sure the groups responsible for this criminality are disrupted and brought to justice."

It comes as Staffordshire Police recently launched a major crackdown on organised crime in a new operation to target offenders and protect those who are most vulnerable.

Operation Target sees officers targeting those committing serious and organised crime across Staffordshire.

The operation has a dedicated Regional Organised Crime Unit, which is made up of officers from Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire and West Mercia.