Bury: GMP's Operation Revoke sees £1.7m worth of drugs seized

Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) Operation Revoke "Clear, Hold, Build" scheme was launched in May this year and has produced "fantastic results".

Moorside was chosen for the work to focus on due to the "presence of three embedded organised crime gangs involved in drug supply and criminal exploitation".

"Due to the work of the team in disrupting these groups they are being re-mapped to reflect the lowering of the threat they pose directly to communities", GMP has said.

The sole focus of the operation is to adopt the Home Office’s mantra of "ruthlessly pursuing organised crime", on this occasion in the Moorside area, which sees an "area cleared of crime, maintained a hold over that location to prevent further criminal activity and then working with communities to build resilience in an area to make it safe and more prosperous".

More than 100 arrests have been made in connection with the operation while a street value of £1.7m worth of drugs have been seized along with £102,000 in cash.

An arrest being made by police (Image: Greater Manchester Police)

A total of 53 search warrants have been carried out and 45 vehicles have been seized.

A number of people have been charged for serious offences and a number of trials are due to take place.

Some cases have already come to court.

In August, a man was stop-searched and found in possession of a "significant amount of cocaine". He received a sentence of six years for possession with intent to supply at Bolton Crown Court.

And this month a targeted stop search of a vehicle led to the driver being arrested in possession of a large amount of Class A and B drugs. Following a house search a firearm and ammunition were recovered along with other weapons, drugs and £20,000 in cash.

The work has also led to victims of exploitation being protected.

Most recently, a boy who was known from the Bury Complex Safeguarding team was found in company with an older man believed involved in drug dealing by the Revoke team. This person was found in possession of Class A drugs and arrested.

The boy was safeguarded by the team and partners whilst the offender was charged with drugs offences.

Feedback from the community has overwhelming been positive with public and key partners supporting GMP’s work and helping to shape the activity of the team.

Work continues and doesn’t stop on Operation Revoke as it moves towards the "Hold" phase of nationally adopted strategy and transitions towards a more partner orientated approach, with several more arrests and disruption activity planned over the coming weeks.

The Operation Revoke team (Image: Greater Manchester Police)

Detective Chief Inspector John Charlton said: “It goes without saying that Operation Revoke is having a huge impact in our local community and the proactive policing element of taking the fight back to the criminals and disrupting their activity.

“We hope the local community are starting to see the benefits of this and really showcases the best of policing.

"We’re acting on concerns from the public by targeting those who are intent on causing harm and fear by controlling their neighbourhoods, a key tactic on tackling this is responding to reports and acting on intel when we can.

“We’re really proud of the dedicated work our officers have achieved in such a short space for the benefit of the town and Bury as a whole and it is something we are determined to keep on top.”

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