Nine arrested in knife crime operation

NINE people have been arrested in a four-day operation tackling knife crime.

The arrests were made as part of Leicestershire Police’s Operation Viceroy, an intelligence-led campaign searching for knives suspected of being hidden or discarded for the purpose of being recovered and used in later crimes.

Officers carried out the latest searches in locations around Leicester across four days, from Friday to Monday.

The knife sweep saw specialist search personnel from the Tactical Support Team recover three knives, along with a “quantity of drugs”.

A police spokesman said: “Officers also used their stop and search powers to search people known to be habitual knife carriers.

“Nice people have been arrested for a range of offences – including possession of a knife, possession of cannabis, shoplifting, domestic assault and theft of a motor vehicle.”

Sergeant Glen Iceton, knife crime coordinator and tactical lead for stop and search, said: “Operation Viceroy will continue.

“We have managed to take three knives and a quantity of drugs off the streets and made a significant number of arrests.

“Importantly, we’ve been able to gather more intelligence to continue other important investigations.

Sgt Iceton added: “Our enforcement operation will continue to keep the pressure on offenders all over the city and county.”