Police arrest man and seize boxes of 'Pregabalin' tablets in crackdown on black market prescription drugs

A man has been arrested by police investigating the supply of drugs in the Bury New Road area.

The 20-year-old has been held by officers as part of an operation aiming to clamp down on the sale of unlicensed or counterfeit prescription drugs.

News of the arrest was accompanied by a picture of four boxes said to contain Pregabalin - a prescription drug used to treat nerve pain and anxiety.

It has been linked to a growing number of deaths in England and Wales - and the Manchester Evening News has previously reported on how it was being widely sold on the streets in the city, with the area around Bury New Road and Strangeways on the outskirts of Manchester city centre being a hotspot.

READ MORE: 'You can buy whatever you want, boxes and boxes': How lockdown turned Bury New Road into the deadly black market drug capital of the north

"Officers from the neighbourhood team continue to crack down on the supply of illicit and counterfeit prescription drugs in the Strangeways area." Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) North Manchester division said yesterday (Wednesday) on its Facebook page.

"A male aged 20 years old has been arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply of prescription drugs.

"The arrest was made under #OperationCranium which is GMP’s response to the sale of the drugs.

"The drugs have not been approved for the UK market and have been linked to people becoming seriously ill and in some cases sadly causing death. "

In 2020, pregabalin was linked to 344 deaths in England and Wales - 60 in the North West alone. That's up from just one a decade earlier, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

One local charity has said use of the drug is 'absolutely rife' in Manchester and that users from