Operation launched to disrupt, prevent, and tackle serious organised crime linked prisons in Greater Manchester

On Wednesday 23 October 2024, we launched a new operation alongside His Majesty's Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit - to disrupt, prevent and tackle serious organised crime involving drugs which are linked to the prison communities.

As part of Operation AVRO we focused our attention on the four prisons we have in our region, HMP Manchester in the city centre, HMP Buckley Hall in Rochdale, HMP Forest Bank in Salford and HMP Hindley in Wigan, conducting a high-visibility policing operation inside and outside of each establishment.

The aim of the operation is to actively pursue those who are responsible for supplying drugs and contraband into our prisons, by working with our partners to target known individuals who think they are above the law.

Over the last few months leading into this operation, we have seized a number of drugs, tobacco and mobile devices that were being flown into our prison via drones.

On Saturday 21 September 2024, a drone was sighted flying close to HMP Manchester, staff from GMP and HMPPS deployed to the area. The offenders left the scene in a vehicle and were later stopped by police in Kent, the vehicle was searched, and a drone and quantity of cannabis were recovered from the vehicle.

Two men in their 30s were arrested on suspicion of conveying prohibited items into prison and possession of Class B drugs, they were later bailed pending further investigations.

Earlier that same evening as part of the same operation a drone was located and recovered by GMP officers before it could enter the prison and was found to contain a large payload of tobacco, cannabis, suspected cocaine, MDMA, mobile phones and pen drives.

Seven days later at HMP Hindley, a drone carrying contraband was spotted by GMP officers and we later identified a male pilot, local patrol officers headed to the location as he made off and was detained a short time later on suspicion of attempting to bring / throw / convey a prohibited article into a prison intending it go to a prisoner.

It is thought that the drugs being dropped into both prisons would have been sold up to five times their value inside of the prison walls.

On the day itself, our Neighbourhood teams from each district and our Dog Unit carried out perimeter sweeps of each prison. Officers from our Roads Policing Unit also ran traffic operation using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) to check any vehicles coming into the prison.

Outside of HMP Forest Bank, a suspected stolen vehicle saw officers and made off from them, leading to a pursuit through a residential area before the occupants decamped. A man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s were detained a short time later, on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle.

Elsewhere across the day, another two arrests were made, a man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and a man in his 40s was also arrested on suspicion of breaching serious crime prevention order.

In partnership with each prison across Greater Manchester, our officers searched Staff members and their vehicles as they headed into work. Members of the public who were on social visits, were also checked before they headed inside the prison walls to see their loved ones. 

Officers and partners in Rochdale targeted shops that were believed to be linked to the supply of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and vapes into prisons. After searches of two address on Drake Street, £33,000 worth of contraband was seized.

Detective Superintendent Andy Buckthorpe who is our Force strategic lead for threat from Organised Crime in Prisons said: “This operation is a culmination of several months work to bring together each district and partners to combat and tackle the crime threat that we are seeing in our four Manchester prisons.

“We have four prisons in Greater Manchester, and they all have slightly different threats in relation to organised crime, we have recently seen the prevalence of contraband coming from the community into our prison establishments and that is one of the main reasons why we have stepped up our efforts over the past few years to tackle this.

“There is a market inside the prison for contraband for controlled drugs, mobile phones and tobacco, which once they are transported inside the walls are worth up to five times their value on the outside.

“At the start of October we launched a multi-agency drugs strategy, and over the last year we increased arrests within the top tiers of GM’s organised crime groups by 69%, and we will do everything we can, alongside our partners, to make sure this number continues to rise.”