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By Patrick Maloney

Two police raids this week have netted $215,000 in cocaine — more than half the amount seized by the London drug squad in all of 2005.

Just five days after officers found one kilogram of cocaine in an Arbour Glen Crescent raid, police stormed a south-end home Tuesday night, grabbing another 1.4 kg. of the increasingly popular drug. That five-day haul rivals the $350,000 in cocaine seized by London police drug officers last year. The 2006 seizures already total nearly $850,000, says the head of the London police drug section. “There’s lots here,” said Det. Sgt. John Carson, who attributed this week’s major busts to “good police work and luck.” The drug squad’s busy stretch started Aug. 25, when officers searched a home on Arbour Glen and seized 1.1 kg. of cocaine. Police also took $8,000 in cash and a car. William Earl Liddiard of Muirkirk faces drug-related charges, police said. Drug squad officers then swooped down on a residence at 19 Bridlington Rd. — southwest of the intersection of Pond Mills and Southdale roads — about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. They also stopped a connected car a few blocks away. About 1.4 kg. of cocaine was seized, along with a quantity of marijuana, ecstacy and the powerful painkiller OxyContin, police said. Officers also grabbed $13,000 in cash. Scott McManus, 23, of London faces nearly a dozen charges, including two counts of possession of cocaine for the purposes of trafficking. Though the increase in drug seizures may indicate a growth in the city’s drug trade, police pointed to the arrests as a positive step. “It’s a great seizure for the city,” Const. Amanda Pfeffer said of the Tuesday night bust. “It will go quite a long distance in getting a large quantity of the . . . cocaine in London off the street.” Most of the cocaine in London comes from South America and travels through the United States before arriving here, Carson said, adding organized crime — such as biker gangs — is often involved.