More than 120 people were set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock in police raids across London on Wednesday by a new unit set up to combat gang violence following riots which rocked England last summer.The suspects were picked up in more than 300 raids across the capital since dawn as hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers erupted into the streets to track down and arrest suspected gang members.
The arrests concerned suspected assault, robbery and the supply of drugs, with police seizing "significant amounts of crack cocaine, heroin and cash", according to the police.
The 1,000-strong Trident Gang Crime Command has been created to monitor gang activity and work with London boroughs.
The unit, thought to be the largest in the country, has 19 dedicated gang crime task forces.
The Met, or the MPS, said in a statement: "As part of the MPS crackdown on gang crime, 109 warrants have been executed so far, resulting in 121 arrests for a variety of offences including, the supply and possession of drugs and gang related violence.
"A significant amount of cocaine and cannabis has been seized at various addresses across the capital."
Ten thousand pounds were found at another address.
Violence destroyed London in August, sparked by the death of a black man in a police shooting.