Five arrests following seizure of cocaine and £35,000 cash

A kilo of cocaine was siezed this morning

Five people are in custody following early morning raids across Oldham, Rochdale and Manchester.

Officers from GMP's Economic Crime Unit, supported by the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, Specialist Operations, North West Regional Organised Crime Unit and the National Crime Agency raided eight addresses across the boroughs at around 6:30 this morning.

The warrants carried out in Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester resulted in four men and one woman being arrested on suspicion of a range of offences including conspiracy to supply class A drugs, money launder and conspiracy to supply firearms.

They all remain in custody for questioning.

One kilogram of cocaine was seized along with £35,000 in cash.

The warrants formed part of Operation Pula, which is focused on the activity of a Manchester based organised crime group involved in the importation and supply of multiple kilos of class A drugs.

An investigation remains ongoing.

Detective Inspector James Coles of GMP's Economic Crime and Cyber Crime Section said: "This morning's action is a great result in our efforts to clamp down and tackle organised crime across Greater Manchester and highlights the effectiveness of collaboration and sharing intelligence, with internal and external teams and agencies.

"We now have five people in custody for questioning and have been able to remove a significant amount of cocaine and cash from our streets, and away from the hands of organised criminals.

"Our investigation very much remains ongoing and we will continue in our pledge to tackle this type of offending. These investigations do, on part, rely on intelligence we receive from the public so I would encourage anyone who may have any information into criminality in your area to get in touch with police."

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