200 Police Officers Carry Out Raids In Salford
Police in Greater Manchester have made 18 arrests, seized a substantial amount of Class A drugs and shut down a cannabis farm after executing a series of warrants in Salford. More than 200 officers executed warrants at 21 addresses across Eccles and Pendleton as part of a operation designed to crack down on organised crime. Gulf is part of Programme Challenger, the Greater Manchester approach to tackling organised criminality across the region. Police say the raids are the result of an intelligence-led operation conducted over a number of months into offences such as supplying Class A drugs and other criminality. Searches at a number of properties are still on-going. Thirteen men and three women have so far been arrested on suspicion of supplying Class A drugs. They remain in custody for questioning. A cannabis farm, and have resulted in officers seizing a substantial amount of cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, cannabis, a stolen motorbike and some cash were among the recovered items. Superintendent Mark Kenny, of Salford Division, said: “These warrants are a result of a sustained and in-depth operation into the supply of Class A drugs not just in Salford, but Greater Manchester as a whole. “They have utilised some excellent work by my officers in the gathering of intelligence and information, which has allowed us to seize a significant amount of drugs which would soon have been poisoning our streets. “We have also been successful in confiscating a large amount of cash, hitting the dealers where it hurts. “We would not have been able to carry out these warrants had it not been for members of the public coming to us with information and intelligence, and that is very pleasing. “However, our investigations are continuing and if anyone has any information they think will assist I would encourage them to contact us. “Our communities have already shown they are prepared to work with us in the fight against drugs and organised crime and I would like to express my thanks to those who came forward and helped us reduce the amount of dangerous narcotics in their areas. “But there is still more to do and, as with any fight against organised crime groups embedded in our communities, we need residents to come to us with information so we can put a stop to this criminality. “If you see drug dealing taking place in your area, come to us, we can help to put a stop to it and help to make Greater Manchester a safer place to live.”