Operation Avro in Bury leads to 80 arrests

Today, Friday, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed 80 people had been arrested on suspicion of various offences including burglary, assault, importation of drugs, theft, possession with intent to supply class A drugs, fraud and indecent assault.

The operation also saw officers reportedly identifying 120 traffic offences being committed including 32 speeding offences.

A number of warrants were carried out in the district after an early morning briefing in the town centre.

A police raid on Thursday

In total, approximately £650,000 worth of class A and class B drugs and £2,000 cash was seized.

Officers also seized large amounts of drugs and weapons during raids including samurai swords.

A notable raid as part of Operation Avro - which moves to different areas of Greater Manchester each month - was police seizing £500,000 worth of cannabis after finding the huge site at Pioneer Mill in Radcliffe.

As well as warrants taking place across the day, other safety measures were enforced.

A knife arch was used at Bury Interchange and Whitefield tram station to carry out knife searches.

People were asked to walk through the arch which would detect if people were carrying the weapon or not.

Traffic and speeding operations were also set up on roads including Rochdale Road and Pimhole Road.

A child sexual exploitation awareness stall among others was set up at Mil Gate Shopping Centre providing vital information for the public as well as crime prevention and personal safety stalls were set up in Kay Gardens in Bury town centre with St John Ambulance and police members giving first aid advice to the public.

Chief Superintendent Chris Hill said: “We are determined to make Bury a safer place to live and yesterday’s (Thursday) day of action highlighted some of the important work we are doing not only during Operation Avro but every day, to achieve this.

“I’d like to reassure the public that we do listen to your concerns and take them on board when prioritising where we need to be and what we need to crack down on to make people feel safer and we will continue to do so.

“We had some good results yesterday and I hope this day of action serves as a reminder to anyone who engages in criminal activity that we will be coming for you.

"Our communities deserve to feel safe in their homes and when out and about living their daily lives and protecting the public remains our number one priority.

"Lastly, I want to urge anyone who witnesses an incident, or needs to report a crime to contact us on our website or call 101. You can make reports anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."