Suspected County Lines gang arrested in early morning raids

This morning (Wednesday 7 June 2023) officers from Bury’s Challenger organised crime team and Revoke Enforcement team with supported from GMP’s Tactical Aid Unit and officers from other Districts in GMP – executed seven warrants.

By lunchtime nine men had been arrested and brought into police custody on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A and Class B drugs.

The activity – codenamed Operation Revoke – comes following an investigation into the alleged large scale drugs supply operating across Bury.

Op Revoke is the ‘Clear Hold Build’ approach to organised crime in Moorside, which combines Bury’s Challenger organised crime team with a newly formed dedicated Revoke Enforcement team.

Clear, Hold, Build seeks to clear the area, hold the location so another gang cannot take its place, and ultimately, help build the community to continue to be place people are proud to live and work in.

In its first month, the operation has seen 24 people arrested, a street value of £135,000 in Class A and Class B drugs taken off the streets, as well as seizing approximately £70,000 in cash.

On day one of the newly formed outfit, officers arrested two prominent OCG members in possession of £52,000 in cash and a large amount of cannabis.

Following on from this morning’s activity officers are continuing to generate information relating to organised crime. Local officers joined up with Crimestoppers and a digital van toured Bury that led to plenty of engagement with the public.

Superintendent Arif Nawaz said: “The execution of these warrants this morning are the results of intelligence collated by officers into a suspected criminal network supplying large quantities of class A and Class B drugs. Criminality of this kind destroys lives and families with the harm associated to drugs.

“I am delighted to see so many people in custody, all from acting on vital intelligence and a significant number of drugs and large amounts of cash taken off the streets.

“I would like to thank the officers from all areas of the Force who came and helped us.

“Operation Revoke is a key example of how we are working with partners to make a real difference to communities across Greater Manchester.

“We’re continuing to be relentless in our pursuit of serious and organised crime. I want to take this opportunity to encourage the public to continue reporting drug activity so we can take action and make Bury an even safer place to live and work.”

If you have information relating to organised crime – no matter how small – please contact either Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or call GMP on 101.