3:54pm Friday 3rd September 2010
ARMED police have raided two houses in Westcliff in search of a gang of kidnappers.
The Metropolitan police operation was launched after a kidnap victim was admitted to a hospital in Essex.
Firearms officers blocked off Westborough Road about 2.30pm today, Friday, before bursting open the door and searching the property.
They were backed up by at least four police patrol cars, two unmarked cars, and two police dogs. But no arrests were made.
They then put in the door of a house in Southbourne Grove at about 4pm in search of their suspects.
A woman who witnessed the raids, who asked not to be named, said: "They were all dressed in black and riot gear. They'd got weapons - they were definitely armed police. "I didn't hear the helicopter though. I wondered if they didn't send it just so these people didn't know they were about to get busted."
A spokesperson for the Met police said a 25-year-old man had been arrested and released on police bail pending further enquiries.
She said enquiries were still ongoing.
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