Armed police in south London used a circular saw to force entry into a property in Lambeth as part of an investigation into the suspected smuggling of illegal knives into the UK. Body-worn camera footage captured officers cutting through the front door of a terraced house on Wandsworth Road shortly after 5am before ramming it open and detaining a man in his 20s, who was arrested on suspicion of importing prohibited weapons. The Metropolitan Police said the raid was carried out after intelligence linked the address to attempts to import bladed weapons, including zombie knives, from China.

Officers recovered a box containing ten weapons, including lock knives and flick knives, and detectives said the suspect is connected to the attempted importation of a "significant number" of knives, some of which were intercepted by Border Force. Detective Chief Inspector Kara Moulds said the operation formed part of the Met's wider effort to remove dangerous knives from London's streets. Zombie-style knives and machetes were banned in England and Wales in September 2024, and separately, a two-week Met crackdown in May under Operation Sceptre led to 243 arrests and 159 knives seized, with more than 3,000 weapons taken off London's streets in the past year.