THREE solicitors and a legal assistant have been quizzed as part of a police investigation into the laundering of drugs money.

The suspects were among 12 people arrested by officers from the National Crime Squad yesterday.

Ten were detained in swoops on five East Lancashire practices -- one each in Blackburn, Earby and Clitheroe and two in Burnley.

They spent last night in police cells across East Lancashire and were released on police bail pending further inquries early today.

A Burnley man was also arrested in the Spanish holiday resort of Malaga and extradition proceedings have been started to bring him back to the UK.

A 12th man arrested in Keighley, West Yorkshire, yesterday was still being questioned today.

Private addresses in Barnoldswick, Clitheroe, Padiham and Colne were searched and computer equipment and documents were seized as part of the operation.

Today, a partner in one of the firms affected said they had been made aware of the arrest of one of their solicitors

He added: "We cannot comment further at the moment because we have not been given any information about the matter and the enquiries are ongoing."

The arrests are part of Operation Norfolk, a drug trafficking investigation carried out by officers from the Chorley branch of the National Crime Squad. It resulted in 11 people being convicted of conspiracy to supply class A drugs in January 2002.

Head of the criminal organisation known as The Firm, which generated huge profits, Matthew Glover, of Foxstones Lane, Cliviger, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in January 2002.

His associates, mainly from the Burnley and Ribble Valley areas, received a total of 101 years in jail.

In January this year, Glover, who made £3million from drug trafficking, had a confiscation order for £370,000 imposed by the court, including the seizure of his house.

The National Crime Squad said they suspected others assisted Glover in laundering drugs money and that today's arrests were a continuation of that.

Janet Paraskeva, chief executive of the Law Society, said it had given the operation its full support.

She added: "The Law Society investigation and enforcement team has been working alongside the operations led by the National Crime Squad that resulted in these arrests.

"The Law Society has drawn the attention of the profession to recent legislation which place an obligation on solicitors to report any suspicion of money laundering."