FIVE men from Bolton were arrested this morning in a series of dawn raids.

Entries were made of homes in Hilden Street, The Haulgh; Crescent Road, Burnden; Tonge Moor Road, Tonge Moor; Gibraltar Street, Deane, and Mornington Road, Halliwell, and searches conducted.

Properties in Preston and one in Bury were simultaneously targetted.

The raids were carried out by officers from Lancashire Constabulary together with colleagues from Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

Ten men in total were arrested and all remain in custody for questioning.

A 32-year-old man from Bolton was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply heroin and class B drugs, namely cannabis and amphetamine.
 
Two men from Bolton both aged 33 were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A and B drugs.
 
Officers arrested a further two men, one aged 26 and the other 30, on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs, specifically cocaine.  
 
Four men from Preston, Lancs - two aged 27, one aged 28 and one aged 30 - were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, namely  heroin and cocaine. 
 
A 33-year-old man from Bury was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply heroin and Class B drugs, being cannabis and amphetamine. 
 
Detective Inspector Simon Brooksbank of Lancashire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit said: "This morning’s arrests are as a result of a significant operation that has been on-going for more than 12 months in which we have already made numerous arrests, seized heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and cannabis with an estimated street value of £18.5 million. 
 
"Action like this is part of our commitment to tackle and dismantle groups involved in organised crime impacting on Lancashire and our surrounding counties. 
 
"Organised Crime Gangs (OCGs) do not see force borders as a barrier in their transportation and dealing of illegal drugs and neither do we when we work in partnership with other forces to tackle this sort of activity.
 
"The arrests today were supported by our colleagues in Greater Manchester and highlight the importance of working together to target and disrupt OCGs. 
 
"The activities of these individuals have a dramatic effect on our communities causing serious anti-social behaviour and disruption to local neighbourhoods, and we are determined to tackle them head on.
 
"We take this type of criminality extremely seriously and would urge decent members of the public to report any suspicious activity to us in the safe knowledge that we will deal with these individuals.

"The vast majority of our activities are driven by community intelligence and it is extremely satisfying to be able to target criminal groups who cause the greatest concern."

Today's raids followed a series of raids undertaken by GMP last week in Bolton under Operation Challenger in a bid to crackdown on drug dealing in the town centre.

Superintendent Andrea Jones, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This morning officers from Greater Manchester Police provided operational support to Lancashire Constabulary as they executed warrants in Bolton. 
 
"GMP dedicated a large amount of resources to assist in these warrants, which were targeting organised criminal gangs involved in the supply of drugs in Bolton and Bury. 
 
"I am pleased to say that these warrants resulted in a number of offenders being placed in custody and have been extremely successful in causing significant disruption to the activity of these OCGs in the Greater Manchester area. 
 
"I would like to reassure our communities that GMP work tirelessly to remove the threat posed by OCGs and this is another fine example of our officers doing exactly that."
 
Anyone with any information about the supply of drugs and any drug related activity is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.