Iraqi police captured more than 500 criminal suspects in raids in Baghdad on Tuesday, the Interior Ministry chief spokesman said.

"Till now 527 people have been netted by the police in Rusafa," which is in the east bank of the Tigris river, said Colonel Adnan Abdul Rhaman in his briefing to reporters.

He added, "this is the largest operation for the interior ministry since the fall of Saddam Hussein," referring to the coordinated raid on Monday afternoon.

Some 500 Iraqi police carried out Monday's operation which is still under way in a bid to crack down on professional gangs in the downtown district of Bab el-Sheikh.

The Iraqi police did not ask any help from the US soldiers who maintain heavy presence in the Iraqi capital even after the transfer of sovereignty to an interim government on June 28, the spokesman said.

The suspects were all Iraqis and they were being held for questioning at a Baghdad police department, he said.

"Most of the people we caught yesterday were professional criminals," he added.

The operation was part of an interior ministry initiative to crack down on crime in Baghdad, said Rhaman.