Manchester raids
Police officers seized luxury cars and items in a raid to dismantle a £10m fraud ring GMP

Mercedes, Range Rovers and Porsches worth up to £91,000 have been seized by Greater Manchester Police and anti-gang cops across northwest England as they dismantled a £10m money laundering ring.

Police executed warrants at a number of addresses in Cheetham Hill, Salford, Hale Barns, Altrincham, Openshaw, Bolton, Oldham and Sale in the early hours of Tuesday 2 November 2014.

They arrested seven men and two women aged between 27 and 50 on suspicion of international money laundering, who remain in police custody for questioning.

As well as the luxury cars, police also recovered designer handbags and shoes, perfume and stacks of cash and laptops.

Detective Superintendent Jason Hudson, head of operations at organised crime unit Titan, said: "The coordinated arrests come as a result of an extensive and thorough eight month long investigation by my team.

"This investigation into money laundering has a reach far wider than just Manchester, with criminal operations reaching as far as Paris, and we believe as much as £10m may have been moved.

"Along with our colleagues from Greater Manchester Police, HMRC, DWP and also the French Police, we have taken a significant step today in dismantling organised crime groups who are damaging communities with illegal money laundering, and the other crime this funds.

"We have seized a number of high-value cars today, which I hope will show the public that we will and do strip criminals of their assets."