Greater Manchester Police have seized 86 firearms in the past year and dismantled several organised crime groups, cutting gun discharges by almost 60 per cent compared with 2021.

The haul - 8.9 per cent higher than the 79 weapons recovered in 2023-24 - includes self-loading pistols, machine-guns, shotguns and 76 blank-firing pistols converted to fire live rounds. Officers also surrendered several hundred rounds of ammunition during targeted raids and a nationwide amnesty that ended in March.

Detectives said the figures translate directly into lives saved: only 29 shots were fired on the region’s streets in the 12 months to April 2025, down from 71 four years ago.

Among those jailed was Sufiaan Ali, 24, sentenced to four years on 2 June after admitting possession of a readily convertible Turkish blank-firer and separate drug offences. Greater Manchester Police believe Ali is the first person in England and Wales convicted for owning a “top-venting” model since the weapons were outlawed on 1 March.

Ethan Glasgow-Lattibeaudiere, 23, received 16 years on 30 June for opening fire on Shaw Road, Oldham, in January. A handgun recovered at the scene was forensically linked to the daylight attack that left two men seriously injured. Nine people were arrested during the investigation.

A Moss Side raid in April saw an entire organised crime gang locked up for a combined 40 years after officers found a pistol, two loaded magazines and spare ammunition in a bedroom on Caythorpe Street. Ballistics tests matched the weapon to four separate shootings, including a fatal incident in east Manchester in 2012.

Detective Superintendent Joe Harrop, head of GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group, said:
“Every firearm we take off the streets is a potential tragedy prevented. The 59 per cent drop in discharges since 2021 shows our intelligence-led operations are working. We will not stop pursuing anyone who brings guns into our communities.”

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