More than 50 people were handcuffed and searched as armed police raid a suspected Amsterdam-style cannabis café in east London.
The customers were detained by officers from the Met’s violent crime taskforce in a major pre-planned operation at the converted railway arch in Limehouse.
Officers scaled a wall to gain access to the café, behind Cable Street, cut off exit routes from the back and battered down from front entrance.
Officers found staff working at a bar with a daily changing menu of cannabis varieties, with prices starting at £3, while customers reclined on leather sofas.
Detective Superintendent Mike Hamer, of the Central East Area, said: “There was a real cross section of people coming to the venue, including students and local residents and even some business people at the end of their working day.
“The main aim was to close this place down. It is organised criminality, and I think people are unaware of the links with violence in the chain of supply.
“It is crystal clear in all the narrative that there is no softening of the stance on smoking cannabis.”
Bags of cash and drugs were recovered from the café – known as The Den – which was decked out with a pair of six foot aquariums filled with tropical fish, a pool table and galaxy-themed ceiling decoration.
Officers searching the café found freshly baked cannabis brownies, still warm from the oven, along with cannabis-infused energy drinks and hundreds of packages of the drug ready bagged for sale.
It is believed the venue was selling drugs to an international clientele, with business cards printed in English, Russian and Arabic.
If you have information about drug dealing or violent crime call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
