Crackdown on licensed premises

Hundreds of people have been arrested in a 48-hour city crackdown on drink and drugs offences.

22 venues were temporarily closed, including a popular club in Brick Lane, which was shut by police following the arrest of several suspected drug dealers.

Edward Baran has the story:

A crackdown by the Metropolitan Police on crimes relating to licensing issues over the past 48 hours has resulted in 297 arrests and 61 vehicle seizures, along with substantial amounts of alcohol and tobacco.

Operation Condor, a co-ordinated operation across London over the weekend, was run to combat those who break licensing rules and involved over 4,000 officers carrying out 800 activities.

One of the largest individual operations involved 175 officers carrying out a raid on one of east London's most popular clubs, 93 Feet East, in Brick Lane, as a result of intelligence suggesting Class A drug dealers were operating there. Edward Baran has the story:

The club was closed by police as a result of evidence recovered during the operation.

Overall there have been 22 venue closures.

The latest figures from Operation Condor showed that a total of 5,830 licensed premises were visited, and 1,046 offences reported or disclosed during the course of the operation.