Police smash down door of family home covered in Christmas decorations in early morning strike

Greater Manchester Police raided addresses in Salford this morning in the latest phase of an operation to prevent drugs being smuggled into prison by drone.

Officers from GMP's crack Tactical Aid Unit executed warrants at two addresses in Little Hulton before dawn. The Manchester Evening News watched as cops smashed down the door of one of the properties, a family home festooned with Christmas decorations.

It follows a series of raids and arrests in October as part of Operation Dragon Fire, set up to tackle the tide of contraband getting into prisons across Greater Manchester, particularly HMP Manchester and HMP Forest Bank in Salford.

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Drugs are coming into prisons via corrupt jail staff, via prison visits from families of inmates and by packets being thrown over prison walls, but over the last seven years drones have increasingly been used as technology has improved, say police.

Gangs are recruiting expert drone pilots to help smuggle huge quantities of drugs into prisons across Greater Manchester where cocaine and spice can trade for five times the normal market value and generate huge profits for criminals.

Drones carrying payloads weighing as much as seven kilos are transporting drugs, mobile phones, tobacco and even items which aren't prohibited inside prisons such as condiments and sauces into jails.

Following this morning's op, Sgt Simon Monks told the Manchester Evening News the initiative had been set up to tackle contraband such as drugs, tobacco, sim cards and phones getting into HMP Hindley in Wigan, although the problem was affecting all prisons across Greater Manchester.

"It's a big issue across Greater Manchester. We've