MORE than £20,000 has been taken off criminals in just the first month of the biggest ever crackdown on drugs and related violence in Southampton.

Police have also taken around 100 deals of class A drugs – with a street value of thousands of pounds – from dealers on the city’s streets.

The dramatic results are revealed today by police chiefs leading Operation Fortress, a Daily Echo backed campaign launched to tackle the rise in serious violence related to drugs during the past two years.

The two-year initiative has been rolled out in Southampton but may well be expanded to other areas and is designed to turn the city into a hostile place for people intent on coming here and plying their trade.

And while the focus is heavily on the local area, operations have taken place across the south and in London where warrants have been executed.

So far more than 20 people have been arrested and 16 different homes have been raided by teams of officers.

Detective Superintendent Kath Barnes said: “We want to make Southampton a hostile environment for anyone intent on bringing drugs and violence into our city. Everything we’re doing is geared towards achieving this while reducing the demand for drugs and helping to rebuild local communities.”

The police-led initiative is heavily reliant on partnership working with a vast number of organisations including councils, housing groups, voluntary groups and drug rehabilitation centres who came together for a special planning day held at the police training HQ in Netley earlier this week.

n Anyone concerned about drug activity in their community you can is asked to call the Op Fortress team on 101 or email operation.fortress@ hampshire.pnn.police.uk.