A police officer was threatened with a loaded handgun when he questioned a suspect during a drugs stop in south London early today.

Two officers pulled over a suspicious car in Camberwell at 12.30am and attempted to detain a man and a woman because of a strong smell of cannabis.

But as he was being removed from the car, the man pulled a gun from his pocket and pointed the weapon at one officer.

Police twice fired a Taser at him before he was disarmed and handcuffed to railings in Warner Road.

A gun found at the scene was assessed as “loaded and ready to fire”.

The 31-year-old suspect was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The woman sped off but she was arrested later for failing to stop for police and possession of a firearm.

The incident came just hours before police launched dawn raids on suspected drug dealers linked to violence across Southwark.

Eleven men and one woman, aged between 18 and 48, were seized in the co-ordinated raids on 16 addresses across the borough.

Detectives targeted suspected dealers in Peckham and Camberwell who are linked to a surge in violent street crime including beatings and stabbings.

At one address on the Pelican estate in Peckham dozens of officers burst through the doors of a second-floor flat shortly after 5am. A male suspect was led away in handcuffs while his flat was searched for weapons, cash and drugs.

The borough witnessed a series of gang-related killings last year. Police said today’s raids were aimed at both tackling violence and protecting vulnerable young men from being drawn into gangs.

Detective Inspector Luke William said: “We know there’s a link between drug supply and serious violence.”