Arrests as 1kg of cocaine and £35k in cash seized during raids

Police seized one kilogram of cocaine and £35,000 in cash during dawn raids as part of organised crime crackdown. Officers raided eight different houses across Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester at around 6.30am this morning (Tuesday). Four men and one woman were arrested.

They were detained over different offences including conspiracy to supply class A drugs, money laundering and conspiracy to supply firearms, police said. They all remain in custody.

READ MORE: Dramatic footage shows moment suspect flees from stolen Mercedes before police arrest

The warrants were carried out by 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. They formed part of Operation Pula - a crackdown on a Manchester-based organised crime group who import and supply class A drugs.

An investigation is 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."