WATCH: Man arrested in dawn raid on suspected car cruise organisers
A man has been arrested after police suspected he was organising illegal car cruising events.
West Midlands Police targeted a Wolverhampton home on Friday morning, after gathering intelligence on people they believe are responsible for organising the illegal races.
A number of computers and tablets were seized, as was a mobile phone and three Sim cards when the 29-year-old was arrested.
His car was also searched and what is believed to be a taser, disguised as a torch, was also recovered.
The man is now being held on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance and is set to be interviewed today.
WATCH: Man arrested in dawn raid on suspected car cruise organisers
It is the 10th warrant West Midlands Police officers have executed since April, where five properties were raided across Birmingham and Dudley – and a 21-year-old man was arrested. Phones and computers were also seized – and investigations following those warrants continue.
The raid in Wolverhampton was part of Operation Hercules, which was set up to tackle the measure.
Acting Sergeant Will Wright, from the Op Hercules team, said: “We conducted a number of warrants earlier this year regarding illegal street racing. We believe these warrants have had a significant effect on people who were going out and racing.
“This arrest today [Friday], shows that we will not tolerate this kind of activity and we will continue to work to identify those responsible for organising the events.
“As we have said before, this isn’t about us targeting car enthusiasts. These people are illegally racing vehicles at high speeds on our roads and putting people in danger every single time they do it.
"Not only themselves, but members of the public and it’s by luck only that we haven’t had a mass-fatality as a result of street racing.
“Not only is it incredibly dangerous, it causes a massive nuisance to the public and we have high numbers of people reporting these offences. We want to let our community know, that we are targeting it, and we are taking action.”
Councils in the Black Country have applied for a new injunction and if granted, it would ban people from participating in, attending, promoting, organising or publicising a car cruise.
