POLICE raided a property in Mersey Road, Sale, as part of an operation against a network of shops selling ‘legal highs’ and psychoactive substances across Manchester.

Officers also executed warrants at two shops in Manchester city centre as well as a shop in Strangeways.

As a result of the raids on Wednesday, May 20, numerous packets of 'legal highs', bags of pills and a large amount of unknown powder were seized from the shops.

They will now be subject to forensic analysis by experts to establish their true chemical composition.

Sergeant Adam Cronshaw said: "Today's warrants are GMP's response to safeguard vulnerable people from 'legal highs.'

“We are encountering increasing numbers of young people across Manchester under the influence of these drugs making them vulnerable to child sexual exploitation and addictive behaviour.

"We want to satisfy ourselves, and the community, that illegal products are not being sold.”

The raids followed an investigation by Greater Manchester Police after a large amount of legal highs were seized from a storage unit in the Strangeways area.

Those packets were forensically tested and a large proportion were found to contain illegal Class B drugs such as methylphenidate and ethylphenidate.

Sergeant Cronshaw added: “A recent report revealed that since 2009, the number of deaths attributed to these 'legal highs' has increased by 800 percent, which shows the very real dangers anyone faces when taking these substances.

“Essentially, you are playing Russian Roulette with your own lives. Even though these shops will say that they only sell to over 18s, it is clear that they are eventually ending up in the hands of children.

“They only cost £8 per packet and so are easily affordable. Some of these shops even sell their products over the internet.

"Users may have no idea what substances may be contained within the packets as there are no legal quality controls and the packets are often marked with 'not for human consumption' to absolve the sellers from any responsibilities should someone become ill from taking them.”

Police have produced a 'legal highs' information booklet aimed at 14-19 year olds which will be rolled out at certain schools and colleges to be delivered within educational workshops to improve awareness.

Chief Inspector Patrick McKelvey added: "The operation this morning is just the start of a campaign to get legal highs off the streets of Manchester.

"I know of two cases where legal highs may have contributed to the deaths of two young people.”