Busy weekend for Operation Venture: 5 people arrested, 4 weapons and £97k worth of drugs seized

Officers from GMP’s Operation Venture team had a busy weekend across Greater Manchester.

A total of 5 arrests, 6 stop searches, 4 weapons seizures, 4 weapons sweeps and £97,000 worth of drugs and approximately £50,000 in cash were seized from 8-10 September 2023.

On Friday a 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of robbery, attempted robbery and section 39 assault.

A 23-year-old man was also arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon (a hammer).

On Sunday a 41-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

Two men, a 31-year-old and a 23-year-old, were both arrested on suspicion of money laundering and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Officers were deployed to hotspot areas in Wigan, Leigh, Trafford and Manchester city centre and patrols also conducted licensing visits at various premises.

As plain clothes officers walked through Mesnes Park on Saturday, they spotted a blue BMW driving slowly.

Recent intelligence suggested that people were using the location as a recruiting area for county lines drug dealing.

Officers have continued to observe the men. The men were seen looking at a group of teenagers which aroused the officers’ suspicion.

Checks were conducted on the car which showed it registered out of force but insured to a woman only. One of the men was seen leaving the vehicle and going inside an address.

Officers detained the driver and the second man came out of the address and was spoken to by officers.

He was carrying an orange carrier bag which was full. After further conversation he passed the bag over to officers.

Within the bag was bundles of cash approximately £50,000. The cash was wrapped in bundles of £1,000.

Upon searching the vehicle, officers found 4 large laundry bags. Within them was approximately 15 vacuum packed large bags containing 15kgs of dried cannabis, with a street value of £97,000.

Both men were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Sergeant Mohammed Waqas of Operation Venture said: “Results such as these show that Operation Venture is succeeding in its goal of taking weapons and drugs off the streets and making Greater Manchester a safer place.

“The team managed to arrest 5 men and seized large amounts of weapons, drugs and criminal money during a busy weekend. By targeting hotspot areas, officers were able to put a dent on criminals who were eyeing up young people to be a part of their criminal enterprise.

“Our greatest asset is information provided by members of the public. If you have information about a crime taking place or concerns about violence in your area, I would urge you to report it to GMP as soon as possible.”

You can do so by calling 101 or via the website: www.gmp.police.uk

Alternatively, call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Always dial 999 in an emergency.