Police have seized drugs worth hundreds of pounds in Captain Cook’s Yard in London’s East End.

They were tipped off that drug dealers were lurking in the dark alley off the Mile End Road.

Officers detained several men said to be loitering, then carried out a drugs and weapons sweep where they uncovered two plastic carrier bags of herbal cannabis with a street value of £500.

One of the men searched was found to have a large amount of cash on him which was also seized—under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act, police revealed tonight.

More cannabis was recovered the following day, hidden in a disused toilet block in the yard.

“Both cannabis seizures will ultimately be destroyed,” Pc Lee Stevens said. “This should be a blow to those who were planning to sell it in the area.”

The yard is on the site where the 18th century explorer Captain James Cook had his country house when Mile End was in the countryside. He is buried nearby in a parish churchyard in Shadwell.

The raids last Tuesday and Wednesday were carried out by a team of Met Police and Tower Hamlets Council set up three years ago to tackle the East End’s drug issues and other street crime.