MORE than £12,000 worth of drugs were seized and 20 people arrested in Newport this week, as officers launched a new crackdown on organised crime.

Officers executed nine warrants at properties across the city this week, including a flat in Godfrey Road, early yesterday morning.

The operation, branded "A Tough New Phase" aims to send a clear message to organised crime groups that their behaviour will not be tolerated.

Over the course of the week 12 people - 10 men and two women - were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled drug, nine of which were bailed pending further enquiries and three cautioned.

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and bailed pending further enquiries and one man was bailed after being arrested on suspicion of possessing a controlled drug and possessing pepper spray.

Officers seized eight wraps and 67 grammes of heroin, 10 cannabis plants, one wrap and 56 grammes of cocaine, two bags and 84 grammes of mephedrone, a wrap of amphetamine and 200 tablets, which are yet to be identified.

The total estimated street value of the drugs is £12,400 and a total of £2,600 in cash was also recovered.

Detective Sergeant Matt Sedgebeer who has been leading this week's warrants said: "It's been a good week. Traditionally with organised crime groups we have had specialised detectives looking at these groups and there have done good work in deconstructing these groups.

"We are disrupting all the groups at once using a wider pool of people so everyone can do their little bit.

"We've done a lot of work with the neighbourhood teams and the CSOs have been fantastic. The information that we get from them and the community groups has been instrumental in how we can act and get the results we have this week."

Officers have also been working with other agencies including HM Revenue and Customs and Newport Council's planning, licensing and trading standards departments to look at the groups being targeted.

Detective Chief Superintendent Rhiannon Kirk, Gwent Police head of volume crime, is leading the operation on behalf of the region, said: "This is a tough new focus on tackling organised crime.

"We've been going out, targeting groups we know of and seriously disrupting them. These are not the targets of long standing operations. This is really going in at an early stage and being in their faces."