A SNIFFER dog led police to a £51,000 cannabis farm after it helped to catch a suspected drug dealer with 14 bags of cocaine in a Bolton pub.

The 31-year-old man was arrested after English springer spaniel Marley used his super-sensitive nose to track him down in The Flag in Arnold Road, Bromley Cross.

The man’s house, in Castle Street, The Haulgh, was later searched by police, where they also found a cannabis factory with 120 plants.

Marley is the police’s new canine weapon in the fight against drugs and their suppliers in Bolton.

Police took Marley to 15 pubs all over Bolton at the weekend to point his nose at hundreds of revellers enjoying a Saturday night on the town.

Whenever he thinks he can smell drugs on someone, Marley sits down next to them, pointing them out to police so they can be searched.

Six people were arrested on Saturday, while another six were arrested in a similar operation on Friday, February 25.

Two of those were caught with individually wrapped bags of cocaine and another two with individually wrapped bags of cannabis.

The man with 14 bags of cocaine has been bailed until April 3 pending further inquiries.

Sgt Paul Ellis said: “I am extremely pleased with the results of this operation.

“We have had great success in making Bolton town centre a safe place to enjoy a night out, and will continue to build on this success.

“Marley, and other dogs like him, are very good at what they do, so if you are using or supplying drugs in Bolton then you can expect to be caught.

“We targeted some of the pubs away from the town centre as we are aware that those who use drugs will take them and be under the effects before they reach the town centre.

“The weekend has shown that our inquiries will not just stop at the point of detection of drugs — we will continue our inquiries to find, and bring to justice, those who are producing and supplying illicit substances.”