Eight men have been arrested after an investigation into a suspected crime gang behind the importation of drugs on a huge scale and a plot to supply a gun.
The suspects, aged 25 to 40 were arrested today across the north west as part of a National Crime Agency operation.
Intelligence for the strikes emerged from Operation Venetic set up after police hacked the secret, encrypted Encrochat communication servers in France which provided a WhatsApp for serious criminals.
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In a series of co-ordinated strikes, NCA officers arrested two men in Cheshire, one in Cheadle Heath, Stockport, and Merseyside Police officers supporting the investigation arrested five suspects at locations across Liverpool.
In a statement the NCA said: "The OCG (organised crime gang) is believed to be led by two brothers, one of whom is believed to be in Dubai. The other was arrested in January and released on bail.
"The NCA investigation is into the importation and supply of cocaine and cannabis, money laundering and a conspiracy to supply a firearm."
NCA Branch Commander Richard Davies said: “We suspect the men arrested to be part of an organised crime group that has been importing cocaine into the UK and selling it on across the country.
“As well as the international work the NCA does to fight Class A drugs coming into the UK, this investigation is an example of the work we do to keep drugs – and drug dealers – away from our communities where they have devastating consequences.
“We will continue to work with our partners abroad to target those at the top of the drugs chain, and UK partners such as Merseyside Police and Cheshire Police to protect the public.”
Guns, ammunition, drugs and more than £2.5m in dirty cash has been seized in Greater Manchester in the year since police hacked into Encrochat
Some 167 suspects have been arrested and 128 of them have been charged in a major breakthrough against organised crime.
For years, the totally legal EncroChat service allowed 50,000 users around the world - 9,000 of them in the UK - to communicate in the knowledge none of their texts would be uncovered by law enforcement.
It ended when investigators hacked into EncroChat's server in Roubaix, northern France, in April last year, sending bogus updates to devices across the globe which effectively mined the incriminating data criminals wanted so much to conceal.
