Police shut down drug line suspected of pushing Class A drugs into Greater Manchester for six years

Published 3 November 2026, 15:24

• Detective Inspector Richard McCorry, of Greater Manchester Police, said the line poured 'substantial quantities of Class A drugs' into communities.
• Fourteen men and five women are being held on suspicion of conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs.
• Officers found suspected crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis in a Bolton home and 30 cocaine wraps in a courier's car.

Greater Manchester Police have shut down a drug supply line that had been pumping Class A drugs into communities across the region for six years, arresting 19 people in a single coordinated dawn operation.

At 6am on Tuesday 3 November 2026, officers from GMP's Serious Organised Crime Group, the North West Regional Crime Unit and the Tactical Aid Unit hit 21 addresses simultaneously — 16 in Bolton, two in Wigan, two in Lancashire, one in Salford and one in Manchester.

Investigators believe the line had been running since October 2020 and that at least 4.2kg of Class A drugs passed through it over that period, according to Greater Manchester Police.

At an address on Egerton Street in Farnworth, Bolton, officers found suspected crack cocaine, heroin and cannabis, along with plastic bags, a cannabis grinder and weighing scales.

At a second address, 30 wraps of suspected cocaine were recovered from a vehicle believed to belong to one of the line's couriers.

Fourteen men and five women were arrested on suspicion of conspiring to supply Class A and B drugs and all remained in custody for questioning at the time of the announcement.

Detective Inspector Richard McCorry, of GMP's Serious Organised Crime Group, said the morning's operation marked "another significant step in our ongoing efforts to disrupt organised crime groups involved in the supply of Class A and B drugs across Greater Manchester."

He said the line "has been responsible for distributing substantial quantities of Class A drugs into our communities" and that those arrested were suspected of "playing key roles in that conspiracy."

McCorry was direct about the wider damage caused by drug supply networks: "Drugs in any community fuels violence and exploitation and often sit at the heart of wider organised criminal activity. We are committed to identifying, disrupting and dismantling those responsible."

The inquiry had been running for several months before the warrants were executed, according to Greater Manchester Police.