Police hunt for guns in Northampton’s Eastern District

Specialist search officers have spent a day searching for illegal firearms thought to be hidden on open land in Northampton’s Blackthorn estate.
By Carly Roberts
Published 15th Nov 2019, 09:59 BST
Updated 15th Nov 2019, 09:59 BST
The Operation Viper search was not linked to any recent incident.The Operation Viper search was not linked to any recent incident.
The Operation Viper search was not linked to any recent incident.

Focusing on an area on the outskirts of Lings Wood, near to Larkrise and Arlbury Road, the team of 11 specialist search officers spent the day looking for weapons believed to have been hidden by local organised crime gangs yesterday (Thursday).

The open land search is the second carried out in the Eastern District in recent weeks as part of Operation Viper, the Northamptonshire Police crackdown on serious and organised crime.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Detective Inspector Nick Cobley, of the Serious and Organised Crime Team, said: “Although we did not find any items, today’s searches are part of Northamptonshire Police’s continued commitment to robustly and proactively tackle this type of criminality, preventing illegal weapons being used on our streets in the future, and making the local community safer.”

Most Popular
The officers were there from the morning and left at 3pm.The officers were there from the morning and left at 3pm.
The officers were there from the morning and left at 3pm.

The searchers were supported by four officers from the local Neighbourhood Policing Team who engaged with members of the community to explain what was happening and why.

The search, which started in the morning and finished at 3pm, was not linked to any recent crime, police have confirmed.