Five arrested and 23 charged over multi-million pound drugs conspiracy import into Darwen
Officers discovered 'significant amounts' of Class A and Class B drugs
Five people have been arrested and 23 others charged in connection with a conspiracy to import millions of pounds of Class A and Class B drugs from Europe into Darwen.
Earlier this year the East Lancashire Exploitation Team launched an operation into an Organised Criminal Gang (OCG) suspected of importing significant quantities of heroin, amphetamine, cocaine and cannabis into East Lancashire before distributing it further afield.
During the operation warrants were executed at addresses in Darwen, Blackburn, Greater Manchester, Cumbria and London.
Officers recovered significant amounts of Class A and Class B drugs, as well as weapons, illegally-imported cigarettes, mobile phones, hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and designer watches.
One such search of a mill in the Hollins Grove area of Darwen, suspected of being used as a packaging base for significant quantities of Class A and Class B drugs, saw the discovery of 10 kilos of amphetamine and an even more significant amount of cutting agent used to reduce the purity of the drug.
A 35-year-old man from Salford has been arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug. He has since been released under investigation.
A man from Blackburn, two men from Darwen and a woman from Barrow all arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply controlled drugs have also since been released under investigation.
A woman from Darwen arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply controlled drugs has been released without charge.
Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service 23 people have been charged in connection with the investigation.
They have all appeared before Blackburn Magistrates.