Morning raids see three arrested in crackdown on business robberies.

Three men from Tameside and Oldham have been arrested during morning raids today (Thursday 30 April 2020) after a series of business robberies in Oldham, Tameside and Stockport.

Officers from GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group (SOCG) and Tameside district conducted the raids and arrested the men – aged 23, 22 and 19 – on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery.

The action follows six reported robberies by masked men taking place at convenience stores since the lockdown restrictions were implemented on Monday 23 March 2020.

Five of the offences are believed to have seen the offenders armed with a taser or other type of stun gun device.

Detective Inspector Joseph Harrop, of GMP’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, said: “Today’s action illustrates the hard work that has been taking place throughout the past few weeks to tackle those who wish to try and target essential shop workers at a time where we all have a duty to protect our key workers.

“We have, and will continue to, ensure that we take action in order to prevent serious and organised crime from not allowing lockdown to deter them from continuing to commit crimes and I hope the public are assured that we are constantly monitoring and confronting incidents of this nature seriously and robustly.”