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A machine capable of producing tablets on an "industrial scale" was at the heart of an illicit pill-making operation uncovered last week, police have said.

The raid of a County Durham business led to Northumbria Police officers finding the machine, hundreds of thousands of tablets and packaging materials.

Four men, aged between 23 and 52, were subsequently charged with the production and supply of Class C drugs.

Det Ch Insp Marc Michael said criminals involved in the illegal drugs trade "profit from the addiction and desperation" of vulnerable people.

On the afternoon of 25 April, officers forced their way into a storage unit linked to a business in the Bowburn area.

They found hundreds of thousands of tablets, most of which were subsequently identified as containing the illegal synthetic street drug Bromazolam, a force spokesman said.

Officers, who also found equipment used to mix and package drugs, arrested two men at the scene and two others at another storage site in the Birtley area of Gateshead, where thousands more tablets were found.

The four suspects will appear at Newcastle Crown Court later this month.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said the force had "zero tolerance" for drug-related criminality and urged anyone who suspects drug misuse in their area to report it.

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