Last updated 20:41, Thursday, 09 October 2008

TEN premises were raided and seven people arrested during a two-day crackdown on drugs in Maryport.

The exercise was part of Operation Kettle, aimed at stamping out drug crime in West Cumbria.

Last Thursday and Friday 20 police officers from Maryport and Workington raided 10 properties.

Alan Raymond Fleetway, 32, of Moorside Drive, Maryport, and Ian James Kerr, also of Moorside Drive, were charged with possession.

Six other people were arrested.

A man on Wallace Lane was arrested on suspicion of possessing a class A drug and illegal ammunition.

At a Nelson Street address two men and a woman were arrested when police found class C drugs and paraphernalia relating to class A drugs.

A woman from Churchill Place was arrested for possession of amphetamines. She will report to police on October 21.

Drug-related equipment was found at addresses on Buttermere Road and Main Street, Ellenborough.

The two arrests on Moorside Drive follow three house closures in the area, all part of a clean-up of the Hillside estate.

Inspector George Nevins, of Maryport police, warned that last week's activities were just the start and anyone using or dealing illegal drugs could expect to be targeted.