More than £30,000 cash seized in new police sting to target crime in Luton town centre.
Bedfordshire Police community officers have been targeting organised crime.
Bedfordshire police made an arrest earlier this week (Thursday) after finding more than £30,000 cash in the back of a car.
A man in his 40s from Luton was subsequently arrested on suspicion of money laundering.
The arrest follows further work to disrupt organised crime through Operation Metal, which is being led by the Luton community policing team.
On Wednesday 26 July, officers out in the town centre were alerted to someone matching the description of a robbery suspect.
The man was stop and searched and officers found he had a large combat knife as well as dozens of bags of suspected Class A drugs and was subsequently arrested.
In the same week, community officers who were investigating a suspected county drugs line visited an address in Elizabeth Street and saw someone throw items away as they left the location.
Officers detained a man nearby and recovered the thrown items, which turned out to be Class A drugs worth thousands of pounds.
The man was subsequently arrested on suspicion of drugs supply offences.
Chief Inspector Alex House, who is leading Operation Metal, said:
“Tackling organised crime is everyone’s business – which includes all of us in policing, no matter what our role is.
“We have put plans in place to sustainably address crime ranging from drug dealing and anti-social behaviour through to violence against women and girls.