15 arrested in dawn drug raids
16 search warrants were carried out this morning .
Thirteen people have been arrested this morning on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs following a series of dawn raids in the St Helens area.
A further two people, a 25 year-old man and a 56 year-old woman, were also arrested on unrelated drugs possession matters.
A quantity of cash was recovered from two separate addresses together with what is believed to be a small quantity of Class A drugs at two addresses and Class B drugs at a further address.
A motocross bike has also been recovered and will be forensically examined and a replica firearm has been located.
Detective Inspector Jason Pye said:
"The Thatto Heath area has itself seen considerable problems with anti-social behaviour which appear to stem from the drug dealing activities of organised crime groups based in those areas. "The information we obtained from the community painted the picture that the drug dealing was blatant and in many cases done in full sight of members of the public and their children. "This resulted in the criminals utilising juveniles from the area to assist in their criminal exploits. "As a result part of the operations focus was to reduce the likelihood of the criminal exploitation of children and juveniles in the local area.
"Today’s arrests are a significant step towards making a difference to the lives of the local community and sending a message to those involved in criminal activity.
"I hope today's activity shows the community that we are listening to their concerns and will act on all information we receive.
"I would like to stress the importance of reporting these issues to the police and providing information, so we can continue to take action, as we have done today. "Without this community intelligence we would have been unable to effectively target those responsible."