Police launch dawn drugs raids
Reporter: Lewis Jones
Date published: 09 June 2011
NINE addresses including two printing shops in Oldham were targeted by police in dramatic dawn raids in the war against drugs.
Around 100 officers took park in today’s swoop, codenamed Operation Barmah, as they executed warrants at addresses in Coppice and Werneth.
Officers had to force entry into a print shop in Manchester Street at around 6.30am, acting on intelligence.
Nine strike teams, including the Tactical Aid Unit, dog units, evidence gatherers and financial investigators, descended on the properties after an extensive briefing at 5am.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with the supply of drugs supply, while a woman is under investigation.
A large quantity of cash and cannabis was discovered.
One man was led from a house in Gainsborough Avenue, after letting police into the property which was heavily guarded by CCTV cameras.
Det Insp Jamie Daniels, who helped lead the investigation, said: “I’m pleased that this will have made the right impact on the community.
“This is a war of attrition against these people. They need to know we are in it for the long haul and we are not going to stop.
“This has taken three months of work and to pull this level of officers together shows that we are serious when we say we will act on what people tell us.”
Other targets included properties in Monmouth Street, Lees Street, Grange Avenue, Jenny Street, and a print shop in Wellington Road.
The swoop was the second half of the operation following similar scenes on May 26.
During that day seven arrests were made as police executed warrants. At one address suspect tried to bungle cannabis out of a back window in a desperate attempt to avoid detection.
Two people are awaiting charges of intent to supply from the operation that also uncovered a number of weapons.
DI Daniels added: “This is a response to the community telling us that they are sick to death of drug dealing in their area.
“The hunt is on for these people and they can’t rest easy.”
Police say they won’t rule anything out in the clampdown that could see similar follow-up raids, and will target the assets of suspected dealers.
If you have any information that you think may be useful for police contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555-111.
