Officers executed drugs raids, discovered weapons and stolen cars under Operation Prosper

09:11, 10 May 2025Updated 09:16, 10 May 2025

Officers from the Operation Prosper team in Walsall (Image: WMP)

Police busted a Walsall brothel as officers arrested 20 people in a clampdown on organised crime.

West Midlands Police conducted a series of drug raids and recovered a number of weapons, including knives, knuckle dusters and nun chucks – a martial arts weapon – over a three-week period.

Stolen cars were also seized and led to the disruption of a brothel in the town.

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Vulnerable women and girls were supported by officers and specialists.

West Midlands Police’s Operation Guardian team supported efforts to tackle knife crime and serious youth violence in notorious hot spot areas in and around Walsall Bus Station, Park Street, Bradford Street and Gallery Square in the town centre.

The crackdown, called Operation Prosper, was funded by £25,000 from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and has seen the establishment of a team focused on youth violence, organised crime and anti-social behaviour.

Sgt Jennifer Hulston said: “Our dedicated team has made a number of arrests with weapons and stolen vehicles seized.

“I’d like to thank the public for their feedback since Operation Prosper launched.

“The information passed to us led to a number of good results in terms of arrests and disruption of criminal activity.

“We want people to be coming into Walsall to use the facilities and know it is a safe town.

“But we need people to treat it with respect, look after it and that’s what we want to do for them as well, clearing the streets of criminality and anti-social behaviour.”

The team is made up of a sergeant and five officers and is focused on cracking down on crime by arresting known offenders.

It disrupts organised criminal gangs and those intent on inflicting fear and misery to the people who live, work and commute through Walsall town centre, police said.

The operation concentrates on reducing organised criminal activity in known hotspot locations within the St Matthew’s ward in Walsall.