We joined Merseyside Police dawn raids as 16 people arrested and items seized

Sixteen people have been arrested following dawn raids carried out by Merseyside Police on Thursday morning and we joined officers as they executed warrants at eight addresses as part of their drive to disrupt serious organised crime groups.

The raids at addresses in West Derby, Wavertree, Orrell Park, Aintree, Knowsley and Kensington helped police seize a suspected stolen motorbike, a drone, drugs and around £4,500 in cash.

Thirteen males, ranging in age from 16 to 61, and three women, aged 37, 52, and 37, were arrested on suspicion of various offences. They all remain in police custody.

DCI Steve Ball said: “Anybody in our communities, who knows anything around firearms or serious and organised crime to pass on the information to us. We do have ways to protect people. I understand that it’s daunting for people to pass that information on, but these types of criminals are exploiting young people in our community, and those are most vulnerable. So it’s essential that we work together together to target this and get guns off our streets.”

Other previous successes of this operation has seen the seizure of £100,000 in cash, a large amount of narcotics and a Skorpion machine gun.

The firearm was found on Thursday 2 March this year. That seizure led to an offender being sentenced to five and a half years for possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm without a certificate and possession of controlled Class B drugs (cannabis) with intent to supply.

In 2022 there were 49 firearm discharges in Merseyside, so far this year that have been 14. January was the first calendar month with zero discharges since records began.

Watch the video above for our full feature on the Merseyside Police raids to disrupt serious organised crime groups.