A total of 50 people have now been arrested as part of a wider police operation against organised crime following a fatal crash.

The arrests have been made after the head-on smash on the A66 on Teesside which killed seven people, including two police officers.

Ten of the 50 arrested are alleged to be linked to the Volvo reportedly involved in driving into two properties in the early hours of 22 August, police said.

Det Ch Sup Helen Barker of Cleveland Police, said: “Over the last two months, we have identified 50 people who we believe are associated within criminal networks that seek to cause serious violence and harm within the community through the supply of drugs.”

The force said shotguns, hand guns, machetes and ammunition had also been seized, as well as £60,000 worth of class A and B drugs and more than £30,000 in cash.

Barker said: “Our pursuit of this criminality will continue, and I want to take this opportunity to thank the community for their support and patience but also for the information that we keep receiving.

“I want to encourage you to keep on reporting behaviour that is related to drugs or organised crime – no matter how small – and be assured we will act.”

Safeguarding interventions have also been made in relation to three children, the force said.

On 22 August a Volkswagen Passat with five young men hit an oncoming marked Cleveland Police vehicle on the dual carriageway near Middlesbrough at about 03:39 BST.

Officers PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, died at the scene.

The occupants of the VW Passat, which was travelling the wrong way down the A66 at South Bank – Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jakub Matusiak, 23, Makai Saddington, 18, and 17-year-olds Theo Rae and Cole Robert Worthy – also died.

A number of those arrested have now been charged with various offences including possession of a firearm and possession with intent to supply drugs including cocaine and crack cocaine.

Fifteen people have been charged – 13 men and two women ranging in age from 19-45.

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