As a part of a crackdown on criminal groups, six people have been arrested in Manchester. Police officers from GMP Rochdale with neighbouring districts and the Tactical Aid Unit targeted seven address on Friday.
As a part of the operation, seven addresses in Moston, Ardwick, Newton Health, Blackley, and Openshaw were targeted. Five men and a woman were arrested for suspicion of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Officers found a crossbow with ammunition, three machetes, and a stab-proof vest at a property. Also, an amount of cannabis was recovered at another address.
Detectives believe that criminal groups are related to two serious assaults in Rochdale in December 2020. Enquires are ongoing.
Detective Inspector Karl Ward, of GMP’s Rochdale Challenger team, said: “It concerns me greatly to see young people involved in assaults where bladed weapons have been used to commit violent attacks. It is absolutely vital that we do all we can to remove this threat and to take such dangerous items off our streets.”
“It is important that people feel safe in their communities, and we have done an enormous amount of work with our local authority partners to reduce the risk to young people living in the Freehold area.”
Kark Ward also encouraged the public to report criminal activities and said:” While we have arrested six people today, I would encourage the public to continue to report incidents of concern so that we can take appropriate action with the assistance of our partner agencies.”
