Deon P Green, Gleaner Writer

London, England:

A Rastafarian temple in south London, which was a place of worship for Jamaican icon Bob Marley in the 1970s, is facing closure after a police raid which led to the discovery of drugs and weapons earlier this week.

Reports reaching The Gleaner are that, after months of surveillance, the Rastafarian temple in St. Agnes Place, south London, was raided by approximately 100 police officers. The raid uncovered six kilogrammes of cannabis and a quantity of crack cocaine, as well as six rounds of ammunition under a floorboard. Twenty three persons were arrested on suspicion of drug dealing.

Conflicting reports

There are conflicting reports as to how the temple was being used, However, The Gleaner understands that individuals had been worshipping during the same week the raid was carried out and that it had been in use constantly for religious purposes.

Police said they were targeting a "hard-core" of 12 suspected drug dealers, and video surveillance showed one man waving a gun in the street. The police say the temple had become so well known as a drugs superstore that customers travelled to it from across the south-east and that, in the past eight weeks, up to 200 people have been arrested on leaving the premises - 80 per cent of those arrested were found to be in possession of drugs.

A crowd of about 20 Rastafarians descended on the temple following the raid and made their feelings clear about the nature of the police operation. Shouts of "racists" were directed towards officers conducting the search. A Rastafarian who has lived in the area said, "There is no one taking crack there, the authorities are just trying to bring down the house of Rastafari."