FIVE people have been arrested after two pubs and a shop were among addresses raided by police targeting the suspected smuggling, production and supply of drugs.
Police from across the county swooped on the Last Orders Pub, Union Road, Oswaldtwistle, the New Inn pub, Thomas Street, Oswaldtwistle, and the Open All Hours shop, Spring Hill Road, Accrington, yesterday.
Homes in Stanley Street, Accrington, High Street, Oswaldtwistle, and Halifax Road, Brierfield were also raided.
A 24-year-old man from High Street, Oswaldtwistle, a 36-year-old man from Halifax Road, Brierfield, a 48-year-old man from the Last Orders Pub, and a 46-year-old man and woman, 43, from the New Inn were today being questioned at Greenbank Police Station, Blackburn.
The Last Orders pub today had a handwritten note on the back door stating: "Closed until further notice."
A sign above the door said the licensee is Gary MaCarthy.
Today detectives said the operation - codename Hornbeam - formed part of a on going investigation into suspected importing, production, and supply of drugs to East Lancashire.
Detectives from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit, based at Preston, and officers from Eastern Division were involved in the searches and a number of police were drafted in from elsewhere in the county.
The raids followed searches in April as part fo the same operation when seven people were arrested following a raid on a property in Eden Street, Blackburn, which police described as a "commercial skunk cannabis operation."
Detective Inspector Dermott Horrigan, said today: "These arrests should serve as a warning to those who attempt to get involved in the importation, cultivation, or supply of drugs.
"While it may seem it's a way of making easy money it is only a matter of time before we come calling at the door.
"Premises such as pubs that allow this activity to occur will be targeted relentlessly.
"This is the second series of arrests as part of operation Hornbeam and demonstrates the resolve of the police to target those who seek to distribute drugs within our communities."
A worried nearby resident added: "It's a shame.
"The Last Orders has been taken over quite recently and it seems a really friendly pub.
"I think this will put people off."
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