Four men in Manchester arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder

Earlier today, Greater Manchester Police detectives and officers arrested two men, aged 30 and 31 at properties in Radcliffe and Failsworth.

Two other men, aged 30 and 39, were produced from prison before being arrested.

All four remain in custody for questioning.

The arrests come as part of a pre-planned operation led by the Major Incident Team, with support from the Salford District’s Operation Gulf team.

Today’s operation is in relation to two incidents - a shooting and a knife attack - which took place in February and March 2015.

The first took place at around 12:15am on 18 February 2015 and saw gunshots fired into a car with three men inside on Doveleys Road in Irlam.

One man – then aged 27 – was injured during the shooting but left the scene before later presenting himself at hospital for treatment.

The second incident took place on 21 March 2015, close to Brattice Drive in Salford.

A 29-year-old man was critically injured after being attacked with a machete. He has since made a full recovery.

Detective Chief Inspector Carl Jones, of GMP’s Major Incident Team, said: “Earlier today, we executed warrants in the Radcliffe and Failsworth areas in connection with an ongoing Major Incident Team investigation into two linked incidents that took place in Salford in 2015.

“This pre-planned operation was carried out with support with officers from the Salford District’s Operation Gulf team, which is a unit dedicated to tackling organised crime in Salford.

“We currently have four people in custody arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and they will be questioned by detectives later today as our enquiries continue.

“This has been a long running investigation so I want to thank the public for their continued support and encourage anybody who may have information that can assist us to please contact police."