Guns, samurai sword and cocaine seized in raids

Sixty people have been arrested across Greater Manchester in a series of police raids targeting drugs supply and related crime.

Searches were carried out across Wigan on Thursday, with dozens of cannabis plants, thousands of pounds in illicit cash and around a kilogram of cocaine all seized.

Weapons were also found, including two firearms, an imitation gun, two tasers, a knuckle duster and a samurai sword.

Twenty-six people have since been charged or cautioned.

The action came after several dispersal orders were implemented over the past year to help curb anti-social behaviour in the town.

Meanwhile, traffic police seized 23 vehicles during the same day.

And Trading Standards visits in Leigh targeted illicit goods and substances with more than £8,000 worth of illegal cigarettes and vapes confiscated, and more illicit cash.

Ch Supt Clare Jenkins said Wigan remains a safe place to live.

"You might see high levels of crime reported but when you break it down per head of population, Wigan is a really safe place to live," she told BBC Radio Manchester.

"Most of the anti-social behaviour is at a fairly low-level and we tend to find it's not the same individuals that we are stopping."

Earlier this year, business owners in Jaxons Court near the bus station in the town centre said their lives were being made a misery by mobs of young people causing vandalism and fighting in the streets.

Dispersal orders give police the power to move people engaging in anti-social behaviour from a designated area for up to 48 hours.

Not abiding by the order can lead to arrest, fines of up to £2,500 or a prison sentence of up to three months.

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