A standoff involving armed police at a house in a Surrey village that lasted for several hours has ended after a search of the property revealed it to be empty.
Police raided the semi-detached house on Careys Wood, Smallfield, at 6am on Thursday in a planned drugs operation, arresting three people.
Officers believed a fourth person was inside with a gun, leading to a lengthy standoff, involving a number of armed officers, an armoured Land Rover, and a helicopter from the national police air service (NPAS).
A cordon was set up on local roads and residents were prevented from returning to their homes. But just before 4pm, Surrey police tweeted that it had “stepped down its response”.
DI Paul Burrill, the senior investigation officer, said: “Officers responded to information that a further man was inside the property on Careys Wood and was believed to be in possession of a suspected firearm. Following a thorough search of the property with assistance from NPAS and the Surrey police dog unit no one was located inside the address.”
He said police were now urgently trying to trace Paul Hodge, 57, who is wanted on suspicion of drugs and firearms offences. Burrill urged anyone who sees Hodge not to approach him but to call 999 immediately.
The three people arrested at the property were a woman in her 40s, held on suspicion of drugs-related offences, and two men – one in his 20s and another in his late teens – held on suspicion of obstructing police. A number of guns were recovered from the house.
Warrants were carried out at 15 other addresses across Surrey as part of Operation Aragon and 10 people were arrested in total. They all remained in custody on Thursday afternoon.
Surrey police said the warrants were obtained as part of a large-scale investigation into the supply of class A controlled drugs.
