A north Manchester drugs gang stormed into the home of innocent family, before they then realised they got wrong house. Last month, a family of four, including a child, had their home suddenly broken into by a group of masked thugs in Crumpsall.
They were armed with weapons and were demanding drugs before quickly making off when they realised they had targeted the wrong house. That is just one example of the aggravated and violent burglaries that have taken place across north Manchester, according to police, as they continue to crackdown on crime north of the city.
It comes as a dedicated team within Greater Manchester Police revealed an 'assault' on crime - including shootings, which were reportedly down by 92 per cent in the past year. Police have been targeting organised crime groups, with dozens of arrests made and significant seizures of drugs and firearms.
As part of the police's work, more than 70 drugs warrants have been carried out, as well as more than 200 stop and searches and almost as many arrests. Specialist officers from Central Park station have worked alongside local detectives and neighbourhood teams to address concerning criminality in areas north of the city, including Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall and Blackley, following on from a spike in shootings in early 2021.
The targeted work led by the intelligence development team (IDT), saw reported firearms discharges dropping from 26 in 2020-21 to just two in the last year. And during the same time period, 33 firearms were taken from the streets of north Manchester.
The action has seen an increase in disruption activity with the execution of 72 drugs warrants, 58 firearms raids, and over 200 stop-searches resulting in 191 arrests. Weapons recovered include revolvers, shotguns, converted blank-firing guns, knuckle-dusters and air refiles, police said.
Investigators have also been focused on dismantling the source of some of the city's gang disputes and the cultivation, use, and supply of class A and B drugs. An increase in aggravated burglaries last summer in places such as Cheetham Hill, Crumpsall and Blackley was seeing groups of men targeting addresses armed with weapons and demanding drugs.
On many occasions, offenders had been identifying locations where they believed cannabis farms were being grown, and were going there to threaten and steal the farms from rival organised crime groups however, they often went to the wrong addresses which saw innocent people having their homes invaded.
GMP also said they have been "committed to tackling this following the introduction of Operation Download in June 2021" which saw them embark on a blitz of 13 raids in the first two weeks, as part of a crackdown on sophisticated cannabis grows. A total of 30 warrants have since taken place and approximately £7.5 million's worth of plants have been destroyed.
And 24 men have so far been charged with offences relating to the cultivation of cannabis and officers are keen to continue to confront suspected organised criminals operating in north Manchester. "We take concerns about suspected criminal activity very seriously and routinely take action on the back of information the public give us," they added.
Details of suspicions in your area such be reported to police online, if able, or via 101.
Information can also be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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