A MAN arrested in Burnley as part of an investigation into a £12 million drugs operation has been released on police bail.

Armed officers from the National Crime Squad arrested the man in the Brownside area of Worsthorne early yesterday. He was later bailed without charge pending further inquiries.

Other people were arrested in Lancashire and Yorkshire early yesterday on suspicion of conspiracy to import controlled drugs and related offences.

The arrests followed an incident in Holland last Friday in which two British men were arrested by Dutch police near the town of Breda.

Police weapons were fired after a Dutch police car was rammed by another car. No-one was hurt.

Police in Holland recovered 310,000 Ecstasy tablets and 100 kilos of amphetamine paste in thirteen large sports bags left in the car.

Also recovered were three Uzi sub-machine guns with silencers and ammunition, a pistol and a kilo of cocaine. The total estimated street value of the drugs seized is £12 million. Dutch authorities have begun legal proceedings against the two men arrested in Holland as a result of the incident.

Detective Chief Inspector David Baines of the National Crime Squad said the operation involved raids on nine addresses and followed months of work by officers from the Chorley and Leeds branch offices investigating drug trafficking into the UK.

He said: "This is another good example of the kind of work we undertake in co-operation with other law enforcement agencies.

"The arrests and seizures illustrate the effectiveness of international co-operation and have prevented dangerous drugs and firearms reaching the streets of this country.''

No drugs were found during the yesterday's raids.

One of the men arrested yesterday, Raymond Dolan, 34, of Thorpemill Court, Triangle, Sowerby Bridge, was charged with possession a prohibited weapon, a stun gun.

He was bailed to appear at Calder Vale magistrates' court on March 26.

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