Seventeen people have been arrested in one of the biggest police raids on Redfern's Eveleigh Street in years.
The raids were coordinated and large, the peak of it over 100 police were involved, bursting out of undercover vehicles.
Officers in bullet proof vests, some carrying rams and chainsaws raided five homes at the bottom of The Block area, in the troubled Sydney suburb.
Some officers from specialist police squads had guns drawn - they ran in through the homes and are most searching through property inside.
They burst into seven homes which are still being searched for drugs, particularly heroin which is a major problem in the area.
Seventeen people have so far been arrested with sniffer dogs being sent through homes, and already some drugs have been seized.
Superintendant Mark Walton says it was time they cracked down on the area.
“I think down in this area it’s certainly been a couple of years since an operation of this extent has occurred.”
The atmosphere was hostile as it all happened, but things have since calmed and police remain on patrol right down Eveleigh Street.