Eighteen arrested, weapons seized, and £250k drugs recovered as crackdown on city centre drug use continues
Date published: 17 October 2022
Images courtesy of GMP
As part of an operation to disrupt criminal activity and drug dealing in Manchester city centre, Greater Manchester Police have established a new City Centre Pro-active team.
In the last six weeks, the new team has made a total of 18 arrests for Possession With Intent to Supply (PWITS) Class A and B.
Since creation, officers have seized over £250,000 worth of drugs, with cash assets totalling over £100,000, and are leading both in Greater Manchester and Nationwide in tackling the potentially devastating culture of Nitrous Oxide use (a drug that is commonly inhaled from a balloon) whilst driving.
This proactive team of specialist officers are continuously working closely with local intelligence officers and partners in order to stay ahead.
So far, around 50 suspects have been charged, and remain in prison until trial.
But the work doesn’t stop there.
There’s a further 41 ongoing PWITS investigations pending charges.
Prior to the formation of this new team, Operation ORION also had some great successes in targeting drug use and drug dealing in the city centre.
Figures show that between November 2019-August 2022 GMP seized £5.9 million drugs, made 232 arrests for drug offences, and conducted 52 drug warrants.
Sergeant Adam Culpan of GMP’s City Centre division said: “The local community understandably has strong concerns about such activity and this operation is also to reassure them that we are listening and that we are taking robust action.
"Drug related criminality can have a devastating impact, destroying the lives of vulnerable people whilst contributing to funds for organised crime groups to grow and further infiltrate our communities.
“These results speak for themselves, and our specialist team are incredibly motivated to combat the issues that our communities face and what matters most to the public.
“As always, and especially with drug related crime, we always welcome intelligence from the public that helps us to identify offenders so we can take them off our streets.
"I’d like to appeal today to anyone who knows anything about drug dealing happening in their local area, or anyone who may have suspicions about it happening, to contact police.
"This can be done anonymously by calling Crimestoppers and really does make a difference."
Anyone with information can contact police on 101, or via the Live Chat service at: www.gmp.police.uk
Call Crimestoppers on 08000 555 111.
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