Forty police swamped an estate today to cage "cuckoo" drug dealers who take over people's homes.

Five crack houses were raided in Whitehawk, Brighton, and officers seized drugs and made a number of arrests.

One woman was found to be was an illegal immigrant.

Drug dealers from London worm their way into users' homes and use violence and threats to take over and turn the addresses into drug dens.

One tenant had a gun put to her head and the offender threatened to kill the woman's mother and young son.

Fifteen buyers were seen calling at the council house in one day.

Police intelligence officers pinpointed a flat on the estate as another crackhouse. Pushers, armed with baseball bats, were dealing from the lobby.

Officers today used a battering ram to break through one front door, barricaded from inside with a steel bar to give dealers extra seconds to dispose of drugs.

As police bashed their way in, the steel bar smashed through a wall and into the adjoining room, just inches from where a woman was lying on a coach.

A man was soaked through on one sleeve and police suspect he stuffed drugs down the U-bend of a toilet.

Southern Water engineers were called in to explore outside drains. Three men and two women were arrested at the house and police seized cannabis, cocaine and crack.

Today's action, partly funded by Community Against Drugs money from the Home Office, was run in conjunction with Immigration and housing officers from Brighton and Hove City Council.

Housing officials were investigating breaches of tenancy agreements and residents could be evicted.