Five suspected dealers charged after raid on Fire
Five people have appeared in court on drugs charges following a raid by police on the gay nightclub Fire in the early hours of Saturday morning.
57 charges of supplying and possessing Class A drugs were laid before Camberwell Magistrates Court yesterday.
Officers with a search warrant raided the club in Vauxhall at 2:15 am on Saturday.
Suspects were held in a central London police station.
Nine people were arrested in the raid, which followed a three-month long intelligence-led operation into Class A drugs, codenamed Pivot.
The South London Press reports that the five accused are: Fulvio Bertoldi, 29, of Urlwin Walk, Stockwell; Antonio Carlo Lima, 38, of Sussex Gardens, Paddington; Nourredine Goumiri, 37, of the Peabody Estate, Camberwell; Karim Mohamed Abselam, 25, of Hendre Road, Eltham; and Muah Heng, 39, of Trafalgar Avenue, Peckham.
Witnesses claim hundreds of police were involved in the raid.
There has been criticism of the police for taking photographs of clubbers but not taking their names.
Chief Inspector Clive Wakeley, who is responsible for operation Pivot said:
“This type of operation shows our commitment to stopping those who push drugs on the borough. The intelligence that we received led us to mount this operation.
“Our work will continue not only to crackdown on drug dealing but on all crime to make Lambeth a safer place for all those who live, work and visit.”
Fire, which hosts A:M (taking place during the raid), Orange, Juicy and Rudeboyz, was temporarily shut down under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
It will re-open on 21st May.
