Operation Avro comes to Bury with a successful day of action.

Officers in Bury made a total of 80 arrests yesterday (26 May 2022), for a range of offences including drug supply and burglary as part of Operation Avro, the monthly GMP initiative that delivers a surge of extra resources and specialist officers to a different district within Greater Manchester each month, in a bid to tackle the communities top concerns.

The operation also saw officers identifying 120 traffic offences being committed including 32 speeding offences.

A number of warrants were carried out in the district after an early morning briefing in the town centre. In total, approximately £650,000 worth of Class A and Class B drugs and £2,000 cash was seized.

 

 

Over in the town centre, partner agencies held workshops for the public, focusing on matters such as rental property law and advice and youth services. The Manchester ‘knife bee’ also made an appearance to help bring awareness to knife crime.

Other activity included a visit to Hazel Wood High School where police and partner agencies spoke to year 7 pupils about the dangers of carrying a knife as part of the Violence Reduction Unit’s campaign to crack down on teenage knife crime, as well as a visit from the police helicopter which landed in the school field much to the excitement of the students. 

In addition Bury Council’s team of officers dealt with a number of waste carrier and trading standards checks on vehicles, as well as a large number of taxi’s stopped and checked for correct licensing across the district.

Work involving police and trading standards also saw 2,800 cigarettes and 547 counterfeit items seized from across the district.

290 arrests have been made since the first Op Avro in October 2021.

Chief Superintendent Chris Hill, from GMPs Bury Division, said: “We are determined to make Bury a safer place to live and yesterday’s day of action highlighted some of the important work we are doing not only during op Avro but every day, to achieve this.

“I’d like to reassure the public that we do listen to your concerns and take them on board when prioritising where we need to be and what we need to crack down on to make people feel safer and we will continue to do so.

“We had some good results yesterday and I hope this day of action serves as a reminder to anyone who engages in criminal activity that we will be coming for you. Our communities deserve to feel safe in their homes and when out and about living their daily lives and protecting the public remains our number one priority.

"Lastly, I want to urge anyone who witnesses an incident, or needs to report a crime to contact us on our website or call 101. You can make reports anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."