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POLICE RAID EX RASTAFARIAN TEMPLE
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POLICE have arrested 23 people during a raid on a former Rastafarian temple in south London in the early hours.
About 60 armed officers targeted St Agnes Place in Kennington, just after 0300 following suspicions of "serious criminality" at the site.
The centre, seen as the headquarters of the UK's Rastafarian community, has recently attracted up to 600 people a day, mostly buying drugs, said police. The management committee said the centre was no longer used as a temple.
St Agnes Place is believed to be the oldest squat in London. "It was a place of worship," said Lambeth Borough Commander Martin Bridger.
"It's the headquarters for the Rastafarian community for the UK let alone Lambeth and we're proud of that.
"But members of the management committee have actually come to me and said it's being taken over by people who are supplying drugs - it's no longer being used as a temple."
Alternative site
The site had been under 24-hour surveillance for the past eight weeks.
Officers had gathered evidence against a core of about 12 people suspected of drug dealing since the police operation began in October.
The police search for drugs and guns at the temple is expected to last up to two days.
The four terraced houses, topped by a Rastafarian flag, were frequently visited by Bob Marley in the 1970s and have been at the centre of a dispute over whether they should be demolished. Lambeth Council is in the process of trying to find an alternative site for the temple.
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