Massive Drugs Raid at Top Nightclub 'Attack, attack' - then 200 officers rush in and arrest 11
Scotland Yard says the drugs swoop followed a two-month covert intelligence operation
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Eleven people have been arrested following a drugs raid at a top London nightclub.
More than 200 officers swooped on The Fridge in Brixton, south London, to investigate allegations of Class A drug dealing.
Scotland Yard said four men and two women were held on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A substances. Five people were arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A substances.
They are all in custody and due to be questioned.
The spokesman added that four people received formal warnings for possession of a small amount of cannabis, while a further nine will be investigated after they were found to be in possession of a small amount of Class A substances.
Officers recovered drugs, believed to be cocaine and ecstasy, and a large amount of money in the raid which followed a two-month covert intelligence operation, police said.
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The dramatic raid was triggered by a command "attack, attack' at just after 11.25pm as clubbers were arriving for the start of the venue's "Polysexual' night.
Scores of officers then burst in through the front door while others covered the rear.
Police intelligence suggested the alleged dealing was taking place inside and around the female toilets.
Earlier on Saturday, in connection with the raid, a 29-year-old man was arrested in Harrow, north-west London, on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
The operation, codenamed Atuna, was led by CO14, Scotland Yard's specialist Clubs and Vice unit, and included officers from the Territorial Support Group.
They swept into the club - which is housed in a converted former cinema - took control of the foyer and the dancefloor, turned the music off and the lights up.
Plain-clothes officers, operating undercover, were inside the club as the raid began.
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Around 130 clubbers were inside at the time of the raid, although it has the capacity for many more.
Inspector Chris Bedwell, from the Clubs and Vice Unit, said the alleged dealing inside the club was "blatant and obvious' and that the intelligence operation had been running for as long as five months.
Chief Superintendent Martin Bridger, Borough Commander for Lambeth, indicated that the venue's licence would now be reviewed.
The Fridge nightclub started in the early 1980s and moved into the converted cinema in 1985.
