Drugs found in Middleton raid

Police recovered a large quantity of cannabis from the house on Boarshaw Road.

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Police executed a successful dawn raid in Middleton this week as they seized a large quantity of cannabis and arrested a 20-year-old youth.

Rochdale Online reporter Jan Harwood attended the search warrant with the police officers and captured these exlusive images.

Police undertook a number of raids this week as part of Operation Storm, which targets known burglary offenders across Greater Manchester.

Officers attended an address on Boarshaw Road at around 8am on Tuesday morning (19 January). The offender was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom and despite the officers' best efforts to knock him up by banging on windows and doors he did not come downstairs. The police battered the front door down and burst into the house.

The startled offender was brought downstairs while officers conducted a full search of the property. They recovered a large quantity of cannabis, which was divided into small bags and contained in a large tupperware box, from the youth's bedroom. They also found weighing scales and a knuckle duster.

The youth was arrested and officers continued with a thorough search of the house, eventually calling in a drugs dog to go through the entire property.

The offender was taken to Chadderton police station, where he was charged.

Operation Storm has seen a large decrease in burglaries in Middleton so far, while police have also been able to reduce the amount of cannabis on the streets; they also issued three warnings for the drug as part of the operation last month.

Meanwhile, police are also hosting a crime prevention clinic at the Middleton Arndale. PCSO Dave Quinn will be at the centre, where he will be offering crime prevention advice and leaflets, every three weeks on Saturday starting on 13 February from 10:30am to 5pm.