'Clubs cocaine ring smashed' as mother and sons are held

Police have smashed what they say is a major family drug dealing ring supplying cocaine to clubbers in the West End.

Officers raided addresses near Regent's Park and Marble Arch early today arresting a mother and her son. The woman's other son handed himself in at a police station.

The family allegedly supplied cocaine on demand 24 hours a day to customers in the West End and within the M25.

It is thought the mother would deliver drugs in her Mercedes sports car and that the racket was making hundreds of thousands of pounds annually. Police described many of the customers as "young, white-collar workers".

More than 75 officers from the Met's Clubs and Vice Unit supported by the Territorial Support Group were involved in the raids shortly after 1am today. The woman was arrested at her apartment in Longford Street, overlooking Regent's Park.

The woman, believed to be in her mid-forties and a 24-year-old man, were today being held at police stations for questioning. The second man, in his mid-twenties, handed himself into a central London police station later in the morning. Sources claim the three were "the main players" in supplying cocaine to young middle-class revellers. They apparently had a client list running into hundreds, which had grown through word of mouth. It was described as a tight-knit operation with the family members being phoned by clients who they would meet around the West End and in hotel foyers.

The police operation began in April. Detective Superintendent David Eyles, of the Clubs and Vice Unit, said: "These three have been running a highly organised, and what we believe to be a highly profitable, cocaine supply business. Our investigation has uncovered that they worked a 'shift' system - one of them available to travel anywhere within the M25 to supply cocaine.

"Intelligence leads us to believe that the drugs are being bought by people using them as part of a night out clubbing or to sell on to others in that environment.

"There would be some dealing during the day but a significant amount would be in the evening and into the night and it would pretty much be available 24 hours a day."

Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair has vowed to stamp out middle-class drug taking in nightclubs and dinner parties.

Mr Eyles added: "I believe we have disrupted an organised gang, who have controlled much of the sale of cocaine in this environment for a substantial period of time."

The three were held on suspicion of supplying a class A drug. A 48-year-old man was arrested in Longford Street for an unrelated matter.