More than 70 people have been arrested following a joint policing operation aimed at targeting crime hotspots on travel routes between Croydon and Lambeth.

Of the 73 arrests made in total, nearly all were made in the borough during Operation Chicago 2 which ran on September 28 and 29, October 4 and 5, and concluded last Friday at West Croydon rail station.

Reasons for the arrests ranged from fare evasion and shoplifting to possession of drugs, ABH, handling stolen goods and robbery.

The aim of the operation - which targeted both bus and train routes as well as railway stations and bus stops - was to crack down on robberies, thefts, ticket fraud, fare evasion, drug trafficking, aggressive begging and anti-social behaviour in the two boroughs.

It was also a means of disrupting groups and individuals that use the transport network to commit offences as well as those who use the system to travel between Croydon and Lambeth to carry out their crimes.

Graham Urry, London South Operations Inspector for the British Transport Police, explained: "Operation Chicago 2 is aimed at targeting criminals who use the railway and other transport routes to move from area to area to commit their crimes.

"Using intelligence about the likely times and days that robberies have happened, we have been able to target those areas where we have historically had a high number of robbery and theft-related crimes.

"By working with partners we can ensure that we are not simply dispersing criminals to other areas or to other modes of transport, but rather stopping and preventing those who target commuters as easy-pickings."

Operation Chicago 2 involved police officers from the Met's transport operational command unit, from Croydon and Lambeth borough forces, as well as revenue protection inspectors (RPI) from Transport for London and the British Transport Police.

At West Croydon rail station in London Road last week, the officers were out in force in the station's concourse area with police sniffer dogs in tow and metal detector arches set up.

The arches were used as part of a national initiative aimed at detecting weapons and cracking down on knife crime on the train system.

During the five day operation, as well as the 73 arrests made in total, more than 200 people were stopped and searched by officers, 122 buses and 6,103 passengers were checked by Transport for London's RPIs, 165 penalty fares were issued and 33 prosecution notices for ticket irregularities were made.