Three people have been charged by police after hundreds of bags of drugs and thousands of pounds in cash were found during a string of raids in Southampton.

As reported in yesterday’s Daily Echo, officers swooped on properties in the St Mary’s and Shirley areas of the city on Wednesday, as part of Operation Fortress, a £2m campaign to crackdown on drug gangs operating in Southampton.

And last night police revealed that around 300 bags of class A drugs were seized from the five homes targeted, as well as £10,000 in cash.

Edwin Morgan, 29, and Hayley Norris, 38, who were arrested at an address in Atherley Road, have now both been charged by detectives.

Morgan, of Campbell Road, Eastleigh, is accused of possessing class A drugs, assaulting a police officer, theft, driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

He was remanded in custody to appear before magistrates.

Norris, of no fixed abode, was charged with possession of class A drugs and has been bailed to appear before magistrates, on July 27.

xhead Samantha Parker, 32, who was arrested at a separate address in Atherley Road, has also been charged with possessing class A drugs.

She will appear at Southampton Magistrates Court on July 27.

A 20-year-old male from London, arrested at the same property, remains in custody.

One of Wednesday’s raids saw police armed with rifles break into a property in Northbrook Road, where four men were arrested on suspicion of possessing class A drugs, conspiracy to supply class A drugs and money laundering.

All four men, aged between 25 and 32, remained in police custody last night.

Following a search of the house, two more people from Southampton, a 24-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man, were later arrested on suspicion of possessing prohibited ammunition.

They also remain in police custody, while specialist search teams continue to search two properties in Northbrook Road.

A 24-year-old man from London and a 31-year-old woman from Southampton, who were both arrested in Nelson Road, were released on bail until August 27.