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Six people have been arrested in a major operation into the criminal activities of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) in east Belfast.

Officers from the Paramilitary Crime Task Force have carried out searches in six locations.

The operation is ongoing. The raids started early on Friday morning.

The UVF is a loyalist paramilitary group which was responsible for hundreds of murders during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

In some cases its members continue to be heavily involved in violence and crime.

At the scene: Kelly Bonner, BBC News NI

These searches around greater Belfast have been in the pipeline for months.

It's a pretty significant operation and I've been out with the team since early this morning.

We attended a house raid in east Belfast at 07:00 GMT.

A team of officers broke the door down and arrested one man inside. The team are currently still here searching the house.