Police have seized an AK47 machine gun and a "large amount of cannabis" in a raid in Mitcham.

In a tweet announcing details of the operation posted to Twitter on Friday evening (August 6), the Met said that five people had been arrested and remain in custody at present.

A spokesperson for the Met Police wrote:

"Officers have seized an AK47 and ammunition, along with a large quantity of cannabis, during a proactive operation in the #Mitcham area. The weapon will now undergo forensic examination. Five people were arrested on suspicion of firearms & drugs offences – they remain in custody."

The links between banned drugs and violent crime are frequently highlighted by authorities tasked with policing controlled substances.

However, a large number of academic studies including a paper published last year by the Social Science Research Network argue the policy of prohibition, the 'War on Drugs', has correlated with increased violence in societies where it is practised because it forces the drug trade into the underground black market.

The Met are meanwhile touting their efforts in cracking down on gun violence in London in recent months.

The capital's police force said they have clocked a "record number of firearms seized by the Met amid on ongoing crackdown on violent crime" in a recent press release, adding:

"A total of 450 firearms were seized in 2020/2021 compared to 366 recovered in the previous financial year. The trend is set to continue with 98 firearms seized in the first quarter of this financial year compared to 92 for the same period the previous year."