Shock as 100 police officers descend on streets across Greater Manchester with nine arrested

The houses lining the small courtyard are handsome, stately, newbuild red brick; the cars parked outside glossy 24 plate Minis and 4x4s.

It’s just before 6am on a chilly October morning in Stretford. Beyond the back gardens, the water of Bridgewater Canal is inky black and gleaming. Aside from occasional birdsong or the rumble of a distant passing train, all is quiet in suburbia. But then: SMASH.

The dawn air was suddenly filled with the sounds of crunching glass as GMP tactical aid officers dispatched the rear glass doors of a property as easily as if they were made of tissue paper.

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Officers then carried out a sweep of the house. The man they wanted was in; he soon appeared in the living room in his underwear, looking bleary-eyed from the early wakeup call.

But he was given time to dress and gather the medication he needed, before being led out of his front door in handcuffs and driven away in an unmarked car.

While the scenes were dramatic, it was just one of nine arrest warrants carried out simultaneously across Greater Manchester this morning by GMP’s Economic Crime Unit – and the culmination of eight months of work.

Under the banner of Operation Calcite – with each target nicknamed a different gemstone – GMP were supported by the Serious Organised Crime group and the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU).

More than 100 officers and support staff gathered at police headquarters in Newton Heath just before 5am. They were briefed by Detective Superintendent Andy Buckthorpe on the task ahead before splitting up and heading out to a total of nine addresses across Manchester, Bury and Trafford.

The targets were all British