Dawn police raids in connection with a multi-million pound drugs conspiracy resulted in 11 arrests in Bradford today.

Houses in Allerton, Girlington, Heaton, Daisy Hill and Canterbury were stormed by officers in the culmination of a ten-month-long operation targeting a drugs ring in three counties.

Officers in West Yorkshire Police’s Crime Division and Operations Support Division, supported by South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester police forces, carried out search warrants at 20 addresses in Bradford, Leeds, Rotherham, Doncaster, Rochdale and Oldham.

During the searches officers recovered a Taser gun in Bradford and more than £10,000 cash along with a large number of mobile phones.

Police surrounded a four-storey detached property in Toller Drive early yesterday and used a battering ram to break down the door.

A Toyota Land Cruiser with tinted windows was in the driveway.

Officers arrested a man, who gave no struggle as he was led out of the house in handcuffs. Searches were then carried out in the property.

Dozens of officers at a pre-raid briefing had been told the operation was an opportunity to send out “a really positive message to the people in Bradford”.

The ten men and one woman arrested yesterday were being questioned last night on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs. Those arrested in Bradford were men aged 35, 28, 41 and 24 and a 26-year-old woman.

A 29-year-old man from Wetherby was also arrested. Since the operation began in October 51 kilos of cocaine, heroin and amphetamine with an estimated street value in excess of £5 million has been recovered along with almost £100,000 in cash.

Detective Inspector Noel Devine, of West Yorkshire Police’s Crime Division, said: “This is large-scale investigation and demonstrates how police forces work across borders in order to tackle criminality. Criminals to do not operate within policing boundaries, and we will continue to work with our neighbouring forces to make the region a hostile place for those who are determined to commit crime.”

  • Courtney Howard, 23, of West Bowling, Bradford, and Andrew Fisher, 27, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, were sentenced at Bradford Crown Court in May this year to ten and three-and-a-half years respectively for conspiracy to supply class A drugs after their arrests earlier in the operation.