Officers seized class A drugs and a stun gun in Redbridge as local police joined a London-wide crackdown on crime earlier this week.

Dozens of extra police officers from Havering and Barking and Dagenham joined Redbridge police on a series of operations in the borough last Wednesday as part of the Met’s ‘Operation Big Wing’.

Police made a total of 12 arrests in Redbridge during the operation and seized one vehicle.

There were automatic number plate checks on vehicles to see if they were insured or stolen and a mounted patrol of Ilford Lane and Loxford Lane.

Cadets were also drafted in to go undercover at a number of off licences and tobacconists. All of the shops visited refused to sell them alcohol and cigarettes.

There were also street briefings outside the town hall in Ilford where Borough Commander Sue Williams fielded questions from the public.

And in Barkingside Chief Inspector Elaine Casey led a team of 36 police, including officers from neighbouring boroughs, on patrols of High Street and the surrounding roads.

She said: “The idea is to provide a high visibility presence, there are a lot more officers out today then normal.

“We have skeleton crews in the stations. The officers here are part of a ‘flying column’ which will move between the three boroughs during the course of Big Wing.”

By midnight on the evening of the operation, police had arrested 600 people across London.

Police have not yet revealed where the stun gun or drugs were seized in Redbridge.

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