News
Eight arrested and £20k cash seized during early-morning police drug raids in Rochdale
The raids were part of GMP's ongoing investigations into the criminal use of encrypted mobile phones.
Emily Sergeant -
18th April 2024 
Police have seized £20,000 cash and a large quantity of drugs during early-morning drug raids in Rochdale this week.
Eight people have also been arrested, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has confirmed.
The significant seizes and arrests come after detectives from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group executed 11 warrants at addresses across Rochdale and Lancashire yesterday morning (17 April), that were believed to be connected to a large-scale drugs conspiracy.
As well as raiding a number of residential properties, several warrants were also executed at premises that police believed to be ‘stash houses’.
A search of all premises raided lead to several mobile phones, quantities of cocaine, and cannabis plants all being seized, as well as an estimated £20,000 in cash.
Following the raids, a total of eight people, who are between the ages of 27 and 56, have all been arrested on conspiracy to supply drugs, it has been confirmed, and they currently remain in police custody for questioning.
These are the latest arrests in what is part of GMP’s ongoing investigations into the criminal use of encrypted mobile phones.
Back in 2020, as a result of the NCA take down of Encrochat – which is the encrypted messaging platform once used by criminals across the globe – GMP was handed hundreds and thousands of messages from the once-secure platform, and it gave detectives “insight into the criminal underworld which had never been seen before”.
Over the last few years, GMP says it has been “systematically” working its way through these messages to attribute them to criminals across Greater Manchester and the North West.
“We have seen great huge successes to date,” GMP has admitted.
Speaking following the early-morning raids in Rochdale and Lancashire yesterday, Detective Sergeant Rich McCorry, from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said in a statement: “The ability for criminals to benefit from the proceeds of drugs is a key driver for organised crime, and we have specialist detectives working tirelessly to eliminate the key players from criminal networks across the region.
“[Yesterday’s] action is a result of months of hard work by detectives, whose proactive investigations into the drugs trade in Manchester has led them through these doors today.
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“We will continue to employ every possible tactic to target and disrupt organised crime groups, and ensure they are brought to justice.”
Featured Image – GMP
