THIRTEEN arrests have been made in connection with drug dealing at addresses in the town this morning after police carried out a series of dawn raids.

More than 100 officers have been involved in this morning's operation, during which 16 search warrants in St Helens and Thatto Heath were executed.

Police said it was the "strike phase of a six month covert investigation".

The operation has been running since April 2016 and is a joint collaboration between TITAN, regional organised crime unit and St Helens CID, Organised Crime Team.

The investigation was set up as a direct response to the concerns of local people from the community.

It was set up to target groups involved in the organised supply of Class A drugs.

The main areas focused upon were St Helens town centre and Thatto Heath.

The areas targeted have significant issues with Class A drug dealing, particularly the supply and consumption of heroin and crack cocaine.

This has resulted in the increased reporting of anti-social behaviour and drug related issues within these neighbourhoods.

Thirteen of the arrests were made on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs after 16 search warrants were carried out in the St Helens area.

Those arrested are:

A 35-year-old man from St Helens

A 34-year-old woman from St Helens
A 17-year-old male from St Helens
A 17-year-old male from St Helens
A 25-year-old man from Thatto Heath
A 25-year-old man from Thatto Heath
A 51-year-old man from Sutton
A 42-year-old man from St Helens
A 48-year-old man from West Park
A 25-year-old man from Clock Face
A 29-year-old man from St Helens
A 47-year-old man from St Helens
A 27-year-old woman from St Helens
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A further two people - a 25 year-old man and a 56 year-old woman - were also arrested on unrelated drugs possession matters.
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A quantity of cash was recovered from two separate addresses together with what is believed to be a small quantity of Class A drugs at two addresses and Class B drugs at a further address.

A motocross bike has also been recovered and will be forensically examined and a replica firearm has been located at one address.

Detective Inspector Jason Pye said: "The Thatto Heath area has itself seen considerable problems with anti-social behaviour which appear to stem from the drug dealing activities of organised crime groups based in those areas.

"The information we obtained from the community painted the picture that the drug dealing was blatant and in many cases done in full sight of members of the public and their children.

"This resulted in the criminals utilising juveniles from the area to assist in their criminal exploits.

"As a result part of the operations focus was to reduce the likelihood of the criminal exploitation of children and juveniles in the local area.

"Today’s arrests are a significant step towards making a difference to the lives of the local community and sending a message to those involved in criminal activity.

"I hope todays activity shows the community that we are listening to their concerns and will act on all information we receive. I would like to stress the importance of reporting these issues to the police and providing information, so we can continue to take action, as we have done today.

"Without this community intelligence we would have been unable to effectively target those responsible.”

Anyone with information about drug dealing in their community can call Merseyside Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.