ELEVEN people were arrested yesterday in a series of dawn raids as part of a police operation to disrupt the supply of heroin across the North-East.

A team of more than 80 officers raided houses and flats across East Durham and Wearside and arrested ten men and one woman as part of a long-planned operation targeting the supply of Class A drugs.

The swoop, part of the ongoing Operation Jericho, follows a six-month intelligence gathering exercise involving officers from Durham, Cleveland and Northumbria police forces.

Ten of the suspects, aged from their late teens to early 40s, were arrested at addresses in Seaham and Murton in County Durham and the 11th was picked up at a house in Sunderland. They were taken to Peterlee Police Station where they were last night being questioned in connection with the trafficking of heroin.

Officers also seized thousands of pounds in cash and a small quantity of heroin, cocaine and cannabis in the raids.

Yesterday's raids mark an extension of Operation Jericho, which was launched last month to hit the trafficking of Class A drugs - in particular heroin - across the three forces' areas.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Malkin, head of Durham Constabulary's Organised Crime Unit, claimed the operation served to underline the determination of the region's police forces to fight the heroin trade by targeting those alleged to be responsible for its supply.

He said: "Anti-social behaviour and disorder are a by-product of drug abuse in the areas where the raids were carried out.

"By targeting the distribution network, we are signalling our commitment to tackle what is a widespread problem that is hitting the quality of life of the law-abiding majority of people in these areas."