POLICE raided homes across Blackpool at dawn yesterday (April 4) and arrested a number of suspected drug dealers.

Two hundred officers took part in Operation Apex in the resort and in a co-ordinated swoop on Merseyside.

They arrested 18 people, including two women, all of whom were being questioned about suspected drug offences.

The operation in the resort began at 6.30am when more than 20 police personnel carriers swept out of Blackpool Central police station and travelled to target areas in the Grange Park and Talbot Road areas. Specialist officers involved in the swoop included search teams with drug detection sniffer dogs.

The man in charge, Det Chief Inspector Mike Gradwell, said: "This has been a major operation as it has involved working closely with colleagues on Merseyside to gather information for strike day."

The people targeted were suspected of being serious players on the drug scene, he revealed.

"By arresting people believed to be operating at this level we hope the result will be serious disruption to the drugs market in Blackpool. This target day is only the start of a massive drive by the police to reduce drug dealing and drug-related crime in the resort."

Operation Apex followed months of investigation, with the help of the Blackpool public, into alleged drug dealing in Blackpool and supply from Liverpool.

Mr Gradwell added: "We are sending a clear message to those people who are involved with the dealing of drugs that the police do know who they are and what they are doing.

"We anticipate a marked reduction in drug-related crime in the aftermath of this operation." BLACKPOOL has the second highest rate of drug-related deaths in England and Wales, it has been revealed.

The resort's coroner, Mr Samuel Lee, said there were 24 drug deaths in Blackpool and the Fylde between January and June last year -- a rate of 12.8 per 100,000. Most were the result of accidental heroin or methadone overdoses.

Top of the table of tragedy was Brighton and Hove with a drug death rate of 13.03 per 100,000.

Mr Lee said: "It is a constant source of sadness that I have to deal with so many deaths as a result of drugs. People must realise that taking any drugs inevitably lays them open to a significant risk of death."

He added that the figures reflected how people on the lowest rungs of the social ladder moved to Blackpool looking for work and ended up in hostels with a drug habit.