Police have launched a crackdown on thugs terrorising Middlesbrough in the wake of the A66 crash which claimed the lives of two police officers.

After the deaths of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough last month, dozens of people were arrested on suspicion of being linked to organised crime.

Cleveland Police upped its operation this morning with a series of dramatic raids which saw 17 arrests made for offences including drugs supply and theft of a motor vehicle.

The raids – codenamed Operation Artemis – saw around 130 officers, including some from the National Crime Agency, carry out warrants and target wanted men across the South Bank, Grangetown and Eston areas of Middlesbrough.

They began shortly after 8am with a convoy of vans as roads were temporarily blocked by patrol cars.

Officers used battering rams to force entry to several properties as parents walked past with their children on the school run.

Cleveland Police has been assisted by forces from across the country since violence engulfed the area following the deaths of the two police officers.

They were killed on August 22 when a Volkswagen Passat going the wrong way along the A66 dual carriageway hit their marked armed response vehicle.

Police launched a series of raids on Monday morning targeting wanted men in Middlesbrough

Officers made 17 arrests linked to drugs, theft and violent offences 

Operation Artemis officers make an arrest during a raid on a property in South Bank, Middlesbrough

Officers from Cleveland Police during a briefing ahead of the Operation Artemis raids

Cash was seized from the South Bank area during a raid to target suspected drug dealers

Officers also seized vehicles including electric scooters which have been linked to criminality

There has been an increased police presence in the area since the deaths of PC Tom Clough and PC Matthew Blades in August

The five in the VW – Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Jakub Matusiak, 23 and Michael Robert Cahill, 23 – all died at the scene.

Following their deaths, some vigils to the young men included masked youths intimidating local residents and even cars set alight.

On August 26 Natalie McDonald and her seven-year-old niece Valentina Foster were killed in a house fire in the Grangetown area.

However police said it was not thought to be linked to the A66 crash.

During Monday’s operation, police seized suspected class A and class C drugs, cash, a knife, knuckle duster, a baton, an illegal e-bike, an electric scooter, an electric assisted pedal cycle and a suspected stolen wacker plate construction tool.

Superintendent Daryll Tomlinson, district commander for Redcar and Cleveland, said the force was determined to take action against criminals operating in the area.

He said: ‘We are tackling criminals and targeting anti-social behaviour in our hotspot areas.

‘Officers from across the region will be joining us to take the fight back to the criminals in this area.

‘We executed drugs warrants, arrested people wanted on recall, and we are sending a clear message out to the community.’