Nineteen people were arrested in raids targeting a suspected organised crime group operating in Bolton.[1][2] Those arrested were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.[1][2] The arrested group comprised fourteen men and five women.[3] They remain in custody for questioning.[3] Officers said they arrested everyone they set out to on Tuesday morning, with two further arrests planned for Wednesday.[1]
Police carried out 21 simultaneous raids across Greater Manchester and Lancashire on the morning of 3 November, including 16 in Bolton.[1][2] Other raids were in Chorley, Lower Darwen, Wigan and Worsley.[1] Two warrants were in Leigh borough, with one in Salford and one in Manchester.[3] At an address on Egerton Street in Farnworth, officers found crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis along with weighing scales, a cannabis grinder and plastic bags.[3] Thirty wraps of cocaine were also found in a car searched by police.[1][2] Police said officers recovered at least a kilo of Class A drugs.[1][2]
The investigation developed from a separate large-scale drug importation case, with telecoms evidence pointing to drug lines suspected of supplying cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis.[1] The suspected network assigned roles including packaging drugs for sale, driving, managing drug lines around the clock, taking orders, coordinating deliveries and controlling safe houses.[1] Officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Serious Organised Crime Group, the North West Regional Crime Unit and the Tactical Aid Unit executed the warrants at 6am.[3] The operation, called Operation Noel, had been planned for six to eight weeks.[1] Officers forced entry to a property on Torbay Close after gathering from 5.30am and made an arrest there.[1]
