SENIOR police officers say their discovery of what they allege was a domestic drugs factory during a raid on a house in Clinkham Wood has dealt a major blow to the supply of amphetamines in the North West.

Three people were arrested following the bust by police which netted in excess of 100,000 tablets believed to be Ecstasy with a street value of £1 million.

A 48-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were arrested on Thursday, Oct 16, after officers executed a search warrant, as part of an operation codenamed Bunter, at a house in Grizedale Avenue. A second man was also arrested following the search. He was later released.

The pair were charged with concern in the production of amphetamines and intent to supply. They appeared at St Helens Magistrates on Tuesday, Oct 21, and were remanded in custody.

Officers were staggered by the scale of their discovery. It is alleged that in one of the rooms of the house were three kilos of tablets, which have now been identified as amphetamines. Also recovered were enough ingredients and equipment (including a pharmaceutical pill press and metal stamps) to make further tablets, two stun guns and a canister of CS Gas.

Operation Bunter has been running for more than 12 months and has led to a number of drug finds. As a result of this latest find, officers went on to raid five more houses in the Clinkham Wood area and a house in Toxteth, but no more drugs were found.

Detective Inspector Martin Webb, said: "The police team led by Detective Sergeant Paul Foster were expecting to find a quantity of drugs, but not as much as they did. There was just no way we could have anticipated finding this amount in one place. We believe most of the drugs were heading for Manchester and Liverpool. As a result we have seriously disrupted a major amphetamine supply line in the North West."

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