DRUGS AND WEAPONS SEIZED AS POLICE IN SALFORD CONTINUE TO TARGET SERIOUS VIOLENCE AND CRIME

Operation Venture continued their blitz on serious violence last week which led to 9 arrests related to a variety of offences and 8 weapons seized.

Operation Venture is a team of specialist officers who work across districts targeting serious violence and knife crime.

The team is intelligence led and uses data to determine where patrols are needed the most to help reduce violent crime and reassure communities.

On Monday 2 October, officers patrolling in Salford arrested two males aged 17 on Basten Drive, Salford on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class Band the other on suspicion of possession of a bladed article, possession of an offensive weapon and possession with intent to supply Class B.

Two knives were seized along with 25 snap bags of cannabis and a number of mobile phones. Following the incident officers conducted a house search and seized an air rifle.

A 44-year-old man was then arrested on 6 October following patrols in Salford after he was stop-searched by officers on Milford Street. He was arrested on suspicion of possession of a Class A substance and possession of a bladed article. A knife and a quantity of cocaine were seized.

A further arrest was also made on the same day in the Broughton area of a 14-year-old male on suspicion of possession of a bladed article following the suspect being searched and found in possession of a large combat knife.

On Sunday 8 October officers were deployed to other hotspot locations to disrupt violent crime. In total 4 arrests were made, and two knives seized following patrols in Trafford, Wigan and Bolton.

Amongst these was a 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and possession of Class B substance near Queen's Road in Manchester. A further two males aged 28 and 16 – were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class B within Eccles Town Centre Later that day, a 30-year-old man was also on suspicion of possession with intent to supply psychoactive substances on Trafford Road, Eccles. A quantity of cash, cannabis, nitrous oxide and several mobile phones were recovered.

A number of disruption visits were also carried out to people who had previously been arrested for violent crime related offences and to ensure they were complying with bail conditions.

During the visits officers also offered Navigator referrals to offenders. Navigators is a service provided to young people to help them break the cycle of falling into further violence and provides them with access to local support networks.

Inspector Jon Ezard of Operation Venture said:

"Operation Venture is intelligence led and it is about sending officers into communities where they can do the most good. Ultimately, we want to disrupt the chain of violence and safeguard as many young people as possible.

"This involves talking to people that we come across, building that intelligence picture of violent crime hotspots, taking appropriate action and arresting offenders where necessary and also making referrals into support services to try and reduce violent crime for the long-term and make our communities safer."