Man held in prescription drugs crackdown in Greater Manchester

A 39-year-old man has been arrested as part of a crackdown on illegal prescription drugs.

Police raided a home in Salford following the seizure in August of drugs worth more than £2m.

They found a "significant amount" of cash before arresting the man on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class C drugs.

Greater Manchester Police's Operaton Vulcan is tackling organised crime in the Cheetham Hill and Strangeways area.

In July, police made what they said was the largest ever seizure of counterfeit goods in the UK.

More than 580 tonnes of items, including clothes, drugs and illicit tobacco, were found in raids on 207 shipping containers on the outskirts of Cheetham Hill.

Detectives, which estimated the loss to criminals to be about £87m, carried out another raid in August, netting a £2m haul in prescription drugs.

Det Ch Insp Chris Julien said: "The warrant we executed in July highlighted the true extent of the criminality linked to the counterfeit trade which was happening on our doorstep.

"Since then, we've worked closely with partners to trace where these items came from, and who they belonged to, which ultimately led us to this property in Salford today.

"People's lives are being destroyed by the misuse of prescription drugs and we will continue to disrupt and dismantle the supply chains operating out of the Cheetham Hill and Strangeways areas."

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