18 men have been charged with conspiracy to supply class a drugs following coordinated police raids in Barrow-in-Furness, Blackburn, Liverpool and Preston on Tuesday.

The men were all charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and cocaine.

They are:

Brett McWilliams, 29, of St Andrews Street, Barrow-in-Furness
Christopher Dodd, 26, of Harrison Street, Barrow-in-Furness
David Beale, 38 from Yarside Road, Barrow-in-Furness
Carl Hartley, 29, of Smeaton Street, Barrow-in-Furness
Babar Qasam, 33, of Chestnut Walk, Blackburn
Sajid Akram, 33, of Brunel Walk, Blackburn
Arif Akram, 32, of Skelshaw Close, Blackburn
Jonathon Nicholls, 29, Sevenoak Grove, Prescot, Liverpool
Lee Parkin, 29, Freesia Avenue, Liverpool
Michael Brennan, 30, Bowland Place, Preston
Jordan Burland, 27, of Bowland Road, Preston
Kevin Booth, 31, of Bowland Road, Preston
Stuart Billington, 26, Broughton Street, Preston
Asrer Khan, 27, of Dove Street, Preston
Tanveer Fazal, 30, of Castleton Road, Preston
Suheil Vohra, 32, of HMP Forest Bank, Salford.

A further two men have also been charged but cannot be named for legal reasons.

All were arrested as part of Operation Oak - an investigation by Lancashire Constabulary's Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) into a suspected organised crime group and a drug supply chain that has been operating in Preston and Blackburn, across other parts of Lancashire and into Cumbria and Merseyside.

All 18 were due to appear before Preston Magistrates today.