Loaded gun recovered and woman arrested in dawn raid in Birmingham

Officers executed a warrant at a flat in Northwood Street, in the Jewellery Quarter, at around 5.30am on Friday where they found a Smith & Wesson revolver with three chambered bullets hidden in a bag in a bedroom.

A 24-year-old woman was arrested from the address on suspicion of possessing a firearm without a licence.

The warrant was carried out by the force's Birmingham Organised Crime & Gangs Unit – a team that has secured jail terms topping 70 years against gang members in the south of the city in the last few months.

Detective chief inspector Nick Dale, who heads up the unit, said: "We’re running regular, often daily operations targeting suspected gang members and people linked to them – we’ve had great success in disrupting their activity and putting them behind bars.

“We are working relentlessly to recover illegally held firearms and arrest those responsible for holding guns. Anyone caught in possession of an illegal firearm, even if they have no intention of using it and are storing it for someone else out of misplaced loyalty, can expect to spend many years in prison."

He added that Friday's warrant was brought about because of information passed onto officers by members of the community.

Anyone with information about illegal firearms possession can call West Midlands Police on 101.