Thousands of pounds worth of drugs have been seized and 21 people have been arrested following a series of police raids in Braintree.

The arrests were made at 16 addresses over two days and follow a six-week crackdown by police on drug dealing in the area.

Thousands of pounds worth of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines have been recovered, along with hundreds of pounds of cash.

Also seized during the raid were a large quantity of electrical goods and cycles which are believed to have been stolen.

Around 70 officers were involved in the operation and Chief Insp Ray Burman, who is leading the investigation, said on Friday that Braintree police believe the suspects are linked.

He said: "We believe there are connections with the people arrested and we are not looking for anyone else.

"We have arrested the 21 people on suspicion of supplying drugs. Most of the raids started yesterday morning and we finished at dawn today (Friday). The operation has taken us six weeks to put together.

"The drugs have been tested and we can confirm that the substances are class A drugs.

"We have also recovered property such as mountain bikes, electrical equipment and compact discs but we still have to ascertain whether or not they are stolen goods.

"We also believe there are hundreds of pounds of cash but we still have to count it. But I am particularly happy that we've been able to take such a substantial amount of drugs out of the community."

He added that police were interviewing the suspects and would not be issuing any further warrants.

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