Moment cops smash ‘mail order drugs gang' in dramatic dawn raid as scale of cannabis being imported to UK laid bare
It's 5.30am, and six cops clad in full body armour burst in as neighbours peer through their blinds to see what is going on.
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Greater Manchester Police conducted dawn raids on multiple address to arrest drug dealers from organised crime gangs
Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia
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The crooks are each facing up to 14 years in custody if found guilty of conspiracy to import a controlled drug
Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia
This house is one of ten being raided by Greater Manchester Police, as they attempt to take out an alleged organised crime group that has imported Class B drugs through the post.
A delivery service worker is believed to have been helping crooks ensure their contraband makes it to the correct addresses in a timely manner.
But the gang's attempts have been thwarted, and eight alleged members have been arrested.
The crooks are each facing up to 14 years in custody if found guilty of conspiracy to import a controlled drug, and an extra 14 years should they be convicted of conspiracy to supply a class B drug.
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At least 27kg of cannabis with a street value of up to £1.5million has been posted to Irlam in Salford, Gtr Manchester, since cops started looking into the criminal network months ago.
The illicit parcels are believed to have come from Thailand, Canada and the US, where cannabis cultivation and use is primarily legal.
Months of intelligence and hard work has culminated in 75 officers carrying out dawn raids for Operation Traun.
It falls under the force's long-running Operation Concept tackling 'fast parcels' — illegal packages brought into the UK via postal systems — across Gtr Manchester.
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Senior investigating officer detective inspector Rebecca McGuigan, told The Sun: 'The most important thing for us is to stem the flow of drugs into this area and keep the community safe.
'No free lunch'
'This operation demonstrates our commitment to tackling organised crime and protecting our communities from harm. We will continue to stop organised crime groups.
Two friends have been sentenced to 24-and-a-half years in prison for their plot to pick up a haul of cocaine
'We will continue to pursue those who seek to profit from this type of criminality.'
A fast parcel can be as large as a pallet.
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The packages can contain a multitude of illegal items, from firearms and counterfeit goods through to Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
In one of the houses targeted by police yesterday, officers found a cannabis farm, which shows that the gang is diversifying its sources of the plant.
Since cannabis was decriminalised in Thailand in 2022, Border Force staff and police across the UK have seen a rise in the amount of cannabis arriving here via the post.
Serious and Organised Crime detective chief inspector Tim Berry told The Sun: 'There are a number of issues with cannabis.
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'One, and it's something that people need to remember, is that it is still illegal to possess and sell cannabis in the UK.
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Months of intelligence and hard work has culminated in 75 officers carrying out dawn raids for Operation Traun
Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia
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In one of the houses targeted by police yesterday, officers found a cannabis farm, pictured another man being taken in by police
Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia
'Two, it's also illegal to import it. I think a lot of people don't realise that when you bring drugs into a country, you're committing a specific offence of importation, which is more serious than standard offences such as possession.
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'In parts of the US, Canada and now Thailand, it's legal to purchase cannabis and, as a result, it has become significantly easier for people to remotely buy cannabis from these countries then ship it here.
'What we are most concerned about is people who are bringing drugs in by the fast parcel system for profit to supply, to sell, or are linked to an organised crime group. That's what we are most focused on.
'But that doesn't mean we won't look at people who have been having regular deliveries to their house for personal use and respond proportionately.'
Many online 'designer' cannabis stores allow users to purchase and then ship the product to the UK.
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I want people to be smart. If someone asks to have a package delivered to yours in return for payment, don't do it
DCI Tim Berry
Suppliers in Thailand sell the drug at a cheap price, meaning shipments from the East Asian country now outstrip those from America and Canada.
For organised crime groups, importing the plant in bulk from Thailand has become the go-to method — and they will even pay regular households to receive the posted packages for them.
DCI Tim added: 'I want people to be smart. If someone asks to have a package delivered to your home in return for payment, don't do it.
'If you do, you open yourself up to being caught in a police investigation.
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'Remember, there's no such thing as a free meal.'
A spokesman for drugs charity Hope UK said: 'We appreciate that police forces have many challenges, and cannabis importation is probably low on their list.
Drug trafficking is a major source of revenue for organised crime groups, many of which are involved in other forms of serious crime
Fleur Brown from the charity Crimestoppers
'However, for many people, cannabis is the first illegal drug they come into contact with, and this contact can lead to opportunities to access other illegal substances.
'We are therefore grateful that Greater Manchester Police are taking this seriously and hope that other forces are doing the same.'
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Fleur Brown from the charity Crimestoppers said: 'Drug trafficking is a major source of revenue for organised crime groups, many of which are involved in other forms of serious crime.
'It directly leads to increased violent crime and the exploitation of children and vulnerable adults by criminals.
'We can all play a part in looking out for and reporting signs of drug activity in our community.
'We are appealing to the public to speak up to our charity, 100 per cent anonymously, about who is ordering illegal drugs into the country, how the purchasing is carried out, and whose properties are being used for delivery.'
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DCI Tim Berry told The Sun: 'What we are most concerned about is people who are bringing drugs in by the fast parcel system for profit to supply, to sell, or are linked to an organised crime group'
Credit: Andy Kelvin / Kelvinmedia
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Advertisement 'The council stupidly put around a dozen benches there so it makes the problem worse, and even the police don't come here. If they did there'd be hell. 'You get accosted at all hours by people asking, 'Do you want anything?' This can be drugs or sex.' 'Getting worse' 17 Some residents say there's an issue with groups of people drinking in the park in broad daylight Credit: Glen Minikin 17 The main streets covered by the PSPO are Fitwilliam Road, the Doncaster Road corridor, Eldon Road and the stretch up to the Mushroom roundabout Credit: Glen Minikin Advertisement 17 Andrew says Eastwood was already a working class area and it's now become 'a dumping ground for people and rubbish' Credit: Glen Minikin 17 A squashed rat lies decaying in the middle of the road in Eastwood Credit: Glen Minikin Eastwood is a melting pot of ethnicities, with a big Asian population who migrated in the 70s, and a large Slovakian Roma population that has increased over the past decade. 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