FIVE men and a woman were arrested as more than 100 officers raided multiple addresses across Greater Manchester in the early hours of Tuesday, January 25.
The raids in Bury, Trafford and Wythenshawe were as a part of Operation Achilles, an investigation into organised crime and the supply of class A and B drugs.
At around 5.30am, officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) descended and arrested five men between the ages of 27 and 43 and a woman, 25.
They were arrested on suspicion of a range of offences such as conspiracy to supply class and B drugs, fraud and money laundering. All of them are in custody.
As well as the arrests, officers also left with a large amount of cash and drugs, and a number of weapons.
After the raids, Superintendent Richard Timson, of GMP City of Manchester, said: "We are committed to disrupting and dismantling the trade of drugs across Manchester and the wider region.
"Today we have managed to remove a large quantity of drugs and weapons from our community. These drugs have a hugely destructive impact on our communities and can only attract further criminality to the area.
"This is a clear step in the right direction in making Greater Manchester a safer place to live and work in."
Operation Achilles is a part of Operation Venetic, a nationwide, NCA-led operation to take down a secretive communications network called EncroChat.
EncroChat is often used by those involved in organised crime, but it has been hacked by the authorities.
Detective Inspector Madeline Kelly, of GMP's Challenger Manchester Team, added: "Today’s action makes up months of intricate investigative work by Challenger Manchester and our partners – including councils, HMRC, the NCA, and Department for Work and Pensions – to tackle organised criminal activity and bring to justice the people whose criminal behaviour blights our communities.
"The EncroChat hack has provided GMP and law enforcement agencies across the nation with an opportunity to investigate this high-level serious criminality, allowing us to apprehend offenders with a view to prosecute."
Anyone with information about organised crime or the supply of class A and B drugs is asked to contact police on 101, or to use the LiveChat on gmp.police.uk.
People can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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