Police raid five properties and arrest 21-year-old man as they swoop on suspected ringleaders of illegal car cruising events in West Midlands
- Police in the West Midlands raided five properties as part of Operation Hercules
- Their aim was to crack down on suspected ring-leaders of illegal car cruising
- A 21-year-old was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance
- Officers also seized a number of mobile phones and computers during the raids
Police raided five properties and arrested a 21-year-old during raids to crack down on illegal car cruising in the first operation of its kind in the West Midlands.
In a series of dawn raids, officers swooped on suspected ring-leaders of illegal car cruising events.
Officers targeted homes of people believed to be arranging and promoting the illegal gatherings and street races on social media.
Mobile phones and computers were seized during the Operation Hercules raids in Handsworth, Kings Norton and Stourbridge.
Police raided five properties and arrested a 21-year-old during raids to crack down on illegal car cruising in the first operation of its kind in the West Midlands
Officers targeted homes of people believed to be arranging and promoting the illegal gatherings and street races on social media
A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit public nuisance.
Chief Superintendent Ian Green, of West Midlands Police, said: ‘A lot of this is organised through social media, with accounts which have thousands of followers and are joining together to organise these illegal street races.
‘This isn’t about us targeting car enthusiasts: These people are illegal racing vehicles at high speeds on our roads and putting people in danger every single time they do it.
‘Not only themselves, but the members of the public and for luck only we haven’t had a mass-fatality in relation to street racing.
West Midlands Police released images of their raids as part of Operation Hercules which targeted suspected ring-leaders of illegal car cruising events
An injunction already bans car cruising from the streets of Birmingham, while councils in the Black Country have applied for a new injunction to ban it in the Black Country area. Pictured: A car believed to be involved in an illegal street race
‘My concern is it’s only a matter of time until that happens so I am going to continue to enforce to make sure that the message gets home that illegal street racing will not be tolerated.’
An injunction already bans car cruising from the streets of Birmingham, while councils in the Black Country have applied for a new injunction to ban it in the Black Country area.
If granted, it would ban people from participating in, attending, promoting, organising or publicising a car cruise.
The High Court is hearing the application on May 13.
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