£26 million in drugs and cash seized by West Midlands traffic officers

Police swooped on suspicious drivers and found a haul of drugs, money and weapons.

Chiefs said the fact West Midlands Police continues to invest in its roads teams means it has a key tool in disrupting criminal operations, as crooks were warned they had no place to hide in the region.

The total seized from vehicles included more than £9.3m in drugs and £1.7m in cash. High-value stolen vehicles were also taken from criminals.

A total of 154 weapons were found on vehicle stops over the last 12 months, which the force said had helped to "tackle violence associated with serious and organised criminality". The traffic stops resulted in a total of 2,630 arrests.

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Waheed Saleem said: "We have seized over £26 million in drugs, cash and other assets from the region’s criminals on our roads.

"Unlike some other forces in the country we still invest in roads policing, this means that the roads are not and never will be safe spaces for the region’s criminals."

Meanwhile, officers took more than 10,000 uninsured vehicles off the region's roads during the past year.

A total of 10,475 vehicles were seized, an average of 873 every month, or one per hour. The figure was an 18 per cent increase compared with the previous 12 months and Mr Saleem hailed the impact of officers.

He said: "We have cracked down on uninsured drivers and will continue to do so.

"We are getting more uninsured vehicles off the roads. Uninsured drivers are a menace to other road users and a danger to themselves. We have made targeting these dangerous individuals a real priority, that is why we are seizing a vehicle on average once an hour, all day everyday – that’s over 10,000 this year."

Mr Saleem also said the force's Operation Cantil, which has targeted gang responsible for rising vehicle crime over recent years, has been "integral" in reducing car key burglaries across the West Midlands.