Stormzy slams police's Notting Hill Carnival drugs tweet for highlighting 'black events'

UK grime star, Stormzy has hit out at the Metropolitan Police after they tweeted about drug seizures in the run up to the Notting Hill Carnival.

"How many drugs did you lot seize in the run up to Glastonbury or we only doing tweets like this for black events?" the rapper wrote, quoting a tweet from the London police "In the run up to #NottingHillCarnival, officers have this morning seized what is believed to be a kilo of uncut heroin in #Catford".

After the offending drugs tweet, the Met then wrote that prior to the Carnival to be held on 27 August and 28 August, they were "disrupting gang crime, drug supply, knife crime & offences that could impact the safety of the weekend" and included a quote from Chief Superintendent Williams which read: "Today's operation is aimed at ensuring that those who intend to cause trouble at Carnival are prohibited from doing so".

Five hour after posting it, Stormzy's retort had garned over 15,000 retweets and numerous comments supporting and questioning its premise. Many asked what a drug's bust in Catford had to do with a celebration taking place on the other side of the city while some questioned why Stormzy charactised it as a "black event".

When contacted for comment by IBTimes UK, the Met police responded saying: "Today's activity was targeting individuals where we had intelligence to suggest that they were planning to commit crime at the Notting Hill Carnival."

"It should be expected that in the run-up to Carnival, the Met will do absolutely all it can to keep the event as safe as it should be for the millions of people who want to go and enjoy it."

In a press release on Tuesday morning, authorities said that officers had been "engaged in proactive operations" since 11 August to tackle crime at the event. "Anyone planning to commit crime at Carnival is unwelcome and people can expect to see further police activity of this nature right up until the weekend".

"We are committed to ensuring that Carnival remains a safe, vibrant and enjoyable event; troublemakers are not welcome." Williams said. "We will be uncompromising in our operations to keep our communities safe and secure. People can expect to see operational activity right up until, and throughout the Bank Holiday weekend."