Operation Venture swoop in and arrest suspected Wigan drug dealer after routine patrol

Greater Manchester Police’s dedicated operation to tackling serious violence and knife crime uncovered another positive find after a routine stop search in Leigh on Wednesday 31 January 2024.

At around midday earlier this week, a team comprised of a specialised front-facing function of an Inspector, two Sergeants and 10 officers, used a mix of covert and high-visibility tactics to tackle offenders in the act. This is reinforced with a back-office function of more officers and analysts to ensure they are deployed in the right place at the right time.

After conducting a routine patrol of a key hotspot, a 42-year-old man was stop searched on Battersby Street and subsequently arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

He has since been bailed under conditions pending further enquiries.

This is after officers deemed, he was acting suspiciously in Ince and believed to be dealing drugs. As they approached the suspect he made off from the scene before being detained nearby after trying to swallow the drugs. Offices recovered the package which contained over 100 wraps of what is suspected to be cocaine and heroin.

A further house search was conducted later that afternoon due to intelligence and a large hunting knife was removed from the address and seized linked to the suspect.

Sergeant Paul Heap of GMP’s Operation Venture team said; “This is another perfect of example of our day-to-day work to keep communities safe and catch offenders in the act.

“A positive result has removed another suspected drug dealer from the streets and enquiries are ongoing regarding this investigation to ensure we can bring justice.

“Operation Venture was setup to ensure we could embed ourselves within areas of Greater Manchester to enable us to respond quickly and effectively and hopefully this arrest gives confidence to the local area that we are monitoring what is going on and will act appropriately when needed.”