A 'drugs laboratory' was raided by police who grabbed a man seen fleeing through the back door carrying a bag of amphetamines.
The raid was carried out as part of a month-long Merseyside Police crackdown on serious and organised crime in response to the deaths of shooting victims Olivia Pratt-Korbel, nine; Ashley Dale, 28; and Sam Rimmer, 22, which all occurred between August 16 and 22.
A spokeswoman for Merseyside Police said the raid took place on Monday, September 19, in Herbath Close, Walton. Officers found the man carrying a bag of brown powder, believed to be amphetamines, as he tried to flee.
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A statement from the force said: "A search of the property was conducted which revealed large quantities of suspected drugs, £800 cash, a Tag Heuer watch, and equipment to manufacture drugs were located and seized. Officers also discovered a room which was suspected to be a converted drugs manufacturing laboratory to produce amphetamine.
"Three people, a 51-year-old man and two women, aged 49 and 22, from Walton, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A and B drugs, possession of criminal property and the production of a Class A drug, amphetamine. They have been released while further enquiries are carried out."
Overall, as of Friday, officers taking part in Operation Miller have made 726 arrests, carried out 1,938 stop searches, executed 142 warrants, recovered 15 firearms and carried out 128 open land searches. In the last week there has been 107 arrests and 230 stop searches in the Force area.
Other operations last week saw arrests in Dingle, where a firearm and explosive device was recovered, as well as Bootle, Fazakerley, Thatto Heath, and Birkenhead. Superintendent Chris Joughin said: “Officers from across the Force have been involved in this month-long disruption to target and disrupt criminals involved in serious and organised crime.
"Operation Miller works in tandem with other police enforcement operations we have in place all year round to disrupt criminality and protect those living in our communities. These include Operation Venetic which targets criminals who used the mobile encryption service Encrochat in an attempt to evade detection, Project Medusa to tackle County Lines drug dealing and child criminal exploitation, and local policing operations such as Operation Presley and Operation Vermont in an ongoing proactive policing operation to find criminals, prevent anti-social behaviour and keep our streets safe.
"Operation Miller supports the work we do every day of the year to tackle those who offend in our communities. Stop searches, warrants, land searches and arrests take place all year round across Merseyside, often in those areas the public tell us where there are issues.
“We have recovered numerous dangerous weapons, removing them from our streets for good, and have seized large quantities of drugs that cause harm in our communities and are sold to fund criminality.
“We are absolutely committed to disrupting any criminal activity which destroys our communities, and we remain dedicated to removing drugs and dangerous weapons from our streets.”
Anyone with information on organised crime or weapons or drugs stored in your area is asked to Direct Message on Twitter @MerPolCC or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Merseyside Police also has the dedicated Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) on its website where you can upload CCTV, Dashcam and smart doorbell footage. If you have footage you think could be crucial to our investigations go to Public Portal ( mipp.police.uk ).
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