The police were out in force along the borders of west London on Thursday February 9, targeting cross-border offenders.

Around 130 officers were deployed to seven strategic locations on major routes both in and out of London as part of Operation Coeus.

The operation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police in partnership with Surrey Police and Thames-Valley Police with the aim of cracking down on travelling offenders, to reassure the community with an increased police presence and to create better cohesion between police forces.

Wayne Matthews, Chief Inspector of Neighbourhood Policing in Hounslow, told getwestlondon that the operation follows a spike in residential burglaries in the borough.

"We've had 119 burglaries since January 1 to January 12 this year which is a significant increase because at the end of last year we were experiencing a 30% reuction," he said.

"We know that a number of these offences were attributable to one particular team of burglars, who were coming in from neighbouring areas, committing crime on Hounslow and then leaving.

"As a result we recognised some gaps in the intelligence picture.

"So the whole purpose is to work with our partner agencies, work with our partner constabularies, other police forces, to have a more joined up approach in the way that we target travelling criminals."

On-hand in the operation were interceptor vehicles, police dogs, unmarked vehicles and officers, with APNR cameras (also known as automatic number plate recognition) used to track vehicles.

Inspector Chris Brown, from Hounslow Borough, said: "It is well known that offenders have no regard for the boundary lines between police forces and boroughs and will look to offend wherever the opportunity exists.

"We will continue to work with colleagues from other boroughs and forces to achieve a reduction in the recorded burglary increase as well as targeting all crime."

Whilst out on the operation, a total of 11 men were arrested for offences including theft of a moped, robbery, no insurance and drugs offences.

During the operation, drugs were recovered and one car was seized.

Councillor Sue Sampson, cabinet member for community protection at Hounslow Council, said: "We work closely with the police to see how we can make Hounslow safer and catch those responsible for the crimes that make the lives of our hard-working and law-abiding residents, a misery.

"The arrests and the seizure of drugs is a great example of the council, the police and other partnerships in the community working together."

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