Four arrests made as police carry out firearm warrants
The raids by Greater Manchester Police targeted one of the highest risk organised crime groups in Greater Manchester
Last updated 10th Oct 2024
Four arrests have been made as Greater Manchester Police carry out a spree of raids on an organised crime group, which the police say are one of the highest ranked for harm in the region.
In the early hours of the morning, specialist officers from across the force executed six simultaneous warrants at addresses across North Manchester, West Yorkshire, and Staffordshire.
Four men have been arrested in connection with firearms offences, and systematic house searches remain ongoing.
The force say that several months of meticulous work culminated this morning with warrants and that using a strategic scoring system to assess the impact of this group’s activity on the local community, the intelligence suggests that this alleged organise crime group are one of the most harmful in Greater Manchester, due to their volatility and access to firearms.
In response to this threat, substantial resources from across the force have been allocated to this operation, and GMP’s specialist anti-gang unit, codenamed Xcalibur have been doing extensive work to identify those involved and ensure safeguarding measures are in place around those at risk of violence or injury.
Four men aged between 19 - 22 are in custody after being arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to possess a firearm.
Officers remain at several addresses conducting thorough house searches.
The police say they recovered large quantities of class A drugs, which officers caught being launched out of a window in North Manchester, and seized around £5000 cash.
The operation was supported by specialist officers from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, GMPs Tactical Aid Unit, Tactical Firearms Unit, and North Manchester Neighbourhood Team.
Officers were also joined by expert firearms dogs who are using their specialist skills to locate any firearms which may be hidden in the addresses.
Detective Chief Inspector Lee Moriarty from our Xcalibur Task Force said: “Enforcement operations like the warrants executed this morning illustrate how seriously we take issues of gun crime and youth violence, and we will always proactively tackle these issues.
"This supports and strengthens the work we do every day of the year across the force to reduce the threat of serious organised crime.
“A crucial part of the work we do in Xcalibur is to work with young people and offer them diversionary routes away from criminality.
"By working with our partners and the local community themselves, we aim to strengthen their resilience against opportunistic criminal gangs and eradicate the viscous cycle of gang recruitment by safeguarding those at risk of being lured into organised crime.
“Information from the public is vital if we are to have a real impact on organised crime groups and I would appeal to anyone who has information to come forward.”