A HANDGUN was discovered and 15 suspects arrested today in a crackdown on drug dealing in Bolton town centre.

The deadly weapon was found when specialist officers smashed through the doors of homes in a series of dawn raids - giving their targets a rude awakening.

More than 20 warrants were organised and executed by officers from the borough's Operation Challenger team that aims to disrupt and capture those involved in organised gangs.

Properties were raided in Halliwell, Breightmet and Stoneclough by a contingent of more than 200 officers from across Greater Manchester Police.

Thirteen men were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of drugs. 

One other man and a woman were arrested on suspicion of possession of cannabis.

Another man was arrested on suspicion of obstructing a police officer. 

They have all been taken into police custody and will be questioned by detectives later today. 

Quantities of cannabis and cocaine were recovered from several addresses and a firearm was seized from a home in Halliwell. 

Superintendent Andrea Jones from GMP’s Bolton division said: "This morning’s arrests are the result of the community standing shoulder to shoulder with the police to take a strong stance against those involved in drug related activity in Bolton. 

"The warrants carried out today are just the first phase of this operation, which will now see us working with local partner agencies including housing, licensing, revenue and customs and other departments to see if people are in breach of local authority housing agreements, benefit fraud, business licenses etc. 

"The work of organised crime groups is constantly changing in their attempt to stay ahead of the police, and Operation Challenger sees GMP working together with other agencies to tackle serious and organised crime, so that all aspect of criminals’ lives are targeted, making it much harder for organised crime groups to operate. 

"We cannot do this alone though and we need the public’s support to continue to provide us with information about illegal activity in their neighbourhood.

"I would like to thank our communities across Bolton for their support so far and assure people that this is not just a one off in tackling those blighting our night time economy in the town centre and surrounding areas."

Anyone with information on the activities of organised gangs for the Operation Challenger team in Bolton should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.