The Leader was there as six homes in West Tamworth and Coledale were raided by 50 police just after dawn on Thursday, before three guns, knives, machetes, a samurai sword, suspected stolen goods and drugs were discovered.

A double-barrel shotgun was seized from a Cossa St home and police have revealed the firearm was reported stolen from a Quirindi property in 2013.

A 30-year-old woman has been granted conditional bail on charges connected to the gun, while an 18-year-old woman is facing similar firearm and ammunition offences, after a bolt-action, single-barrel shotgun was discovered in a Robert St home.

“We don’t want guns on the streets and in the hands of these sorts of individuals, so we moved quickly and got all available resources here, and, as a result, executed those six search warrants with a great result,” Oxley Detective Acting Inspector Jason Darcy said.

“We believe they were all connected to each other and that’s why there were all searched at the same time.”

Six teams of police from Oxley, New England, and the State Crime Command’s squads stormed their way in and combed through every inch of homes in Anthony Rd, Cossa St, Susanne St, Maxwell St, Maitland St and Robert St.

Five people have been charged with various weapons and drug offences as a result of the raids, while a Tamworth man remains behind bars in connection to the investigation, after he allegedly wielded a gun at a man in Susanne St on Monday night.

Police said the crackdown was triggered by the incident on Monday night and further charges could be laid as investigations continued into several knives and drugs seized from a home.

“There are further lines of inquiry open and our Target Action Group are currently addressing them,” Detective Acting Inspector Darcy said.

“Ninety-nine per cent of people in that area are decent people and raising families in that area – and then you’ve got these individuals, who think they are above the law.”