Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB Published: 4 April 2008
Operation ‘not aimed at Algerian community’
BOROUGH Commander Bob Carr, who met business owners and residents yesterday (Thursday), has responded to criticisms made of the Blackstock Road operation.
He said: “We knew exactly who we were looking for and know what was going on in these premises – buying and selling stolen goods, drugs, forged passports – we have evidence. We were searching for 52 specific people and on the day we arrested 36 of them. We’ve heard some of the stories that are coming out but I believe the vast majority of those officers were totally professional. I’m fully confident we did it right. We’ve got evidence of criminality going on in each of those 19 premises. I’ve been surprised at how supportive the community has been generally. We see this as the beginnning of something good. There’s a real opportunity for the people left to make their business better. This isn’t aimed at the Algerian community.”