Police seize £104,000, flash watches, cars, knives, a Samurai sword and arrest FIFTY in huge gang raids

Fifty suspects have been arrested and £104,000 in cash seized in an operation to smash county lines drugs gangs across Cheshire.

A large number of drugs were recovered including 10kg of cocaine, 35 cannabis deals and 259 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin. Officers arrested 41 men and nine women, including four teenagers, on suspicion of drug offences.

Police also seized three vehicles, high value watches, 47 mobile phones and weapons including a Samurai sword and knives. Fifteen homes where vulnerable residents were believed to have been victims of cuckooing by criminals were raided.

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'Cuckooing' is when crime groups either befriend, manipulate or force themselves into the homes lived in by vulnerable people in order to use the property to store and sell heroin and crack cocaine.

Sixteen people were identified as vulnerable and at risk of criminal exploitation by drug gangs. Officers worked with local authorities and charities to provide specialist support and advice to safeguard them.

Police believe young people have been lured into working for drugs gangs who buy them booze, and designer clothes. Those arrested were from Oldham, Chadderton, Warrington, Northwich, Macclesfield, Widnes, Crewe, Runcorn, Ellesmere Port, Liverpool, Newton-le-Willows, Chester, and Birmingham. The arrests followed a week of action from March 7 to 13.

Assistant Chief Constable Bill Dutton said: “Protecting and preventing young children and vulnerable adults from organised crime gangs who go out of their way to exploit them remains one of our top priorities. We don’t this on our own, we work with our partners to educate young children, their parents and