Increase in guns seizures as Op Target team keep pressure on serious crime
West Midlands Police seized more than 130 guns and ammunition in the last year as part of a crackdown on serious and organised crime.
Operation Target was launched as part of the force's ongoing work to take drugs, guns and serious criminals off the region's streets.
In 2023 figures showed 11 more firearms were confiscated than in 2022, while the number of firearms discharges fell.
The force said its proactive major crime team of officers made a number of key arrests in recent months including on October 2 when they stopped a car in an intelligence-led operation and were able to recover a shotgun, illicit drugs, a pair of handcuffs and gloves.
When the driver’s house was subsequently searched the team discovered a large quantity of drugs. The driver was charged and will face court trial later this year.
On October 13 officers stopped a Ford Fiesta and found a revolver loaded with two bullets. Two men have since admitted possession of the weapon and are awaiting sentencing.
In November they found a loaded gun at the home of a suspected gang member in Handsworth in Birmingham. He too admitted a firearms possession offence and will be sentenced next month.
Also in November officers arrested a man, aged 27, after a firearm and suspected heroin was discovered during a raid at a property in Oxford Street in Bilston.
Online undercover work saw officers snare 11 sexual predators as part of efforts to identify paedophiles who arrange to meet children to sexually abuse them.
Among the cases was a man who was identified while talking sexually to girls, aged just 12 and 13, despite being on licence from prison for similar offences. He was traced to an address in Northamptonshire and arrested. He has since admitted the charges and was jailed for eight years and ordered to remain on licence for four years after that.
West Midlands Police Det Ch Insp Ryan Chambers said: “We’re committed to taking on those who cause the most harm to communities. Organised crime groups involved in drugs, guns, and criminal cash should be under no illusion that we are coming for them and will use all our powers and investigative techniques to ensure they spend many years behind bars.
“But to do this, we rely on information from the public. I’d urge anyone who has information about those involved in serious and organised crime to get in touch so that we can take action to protect the public.”
The Operation Target team can be contacted via the force website website, by phoning101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
