Several arrests have been made by police targeting south east London transport hubs, including three people caught in possession of a knife.

Police teams targeted New Cross Gate and North Greenwich stations over the week, deploying officers for stop and search, covert officers, weapons arches and police dogs.

The operation, codenamed 'Avara', targets antisocial and criminal activity utilising the transport network in south east London.

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British Transport Police teamed up with Met Police Welling, BTP Dogs, other police teams and Southeastern Railway to run the operation, forming the Metro Proactive Team.

Three operations at the two busy stations were carried out, and several arrests were made including three for the possession of a knife.

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Other drugs and weapons were also seized, and a number of people were brought into custody.

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Earlier this month, the Met reported that Avara disruption operations targeting train stations across south east London and North Kent had resulted in a massive 145 arrests and 56 weapons being seized in one year of the project..

'Operation Avara', run by the British Transport Police, Met teams and Kent Police along with Southeastern Railway, has run for 12 months, starting in August 2019, tackling violence centred around transport hubs.

Superintendent Chris Horton, of the British Transport Police, said: “This has clearly been a highly successful operation alongside our colleagues from the Met and Kent police, and it is a great example of what we have to gain from working together.

“Preventing serious violence and knife crime on the rail network remains one of the highest priorities for BTP, and we are committed to ensuring everyone has a safe journey.

“By using knife arches and stop and search powers in a controlled way, we’ve been able to seize over 50 weapons before they’re used to potentially take a life. Fortunately, assaults involving a weapon on the railway are extremely rare, and operations like this are part of our commitment to keeping our network safe.”