A massive crackdown has seen a record number of 743 arrests made across the UK in a bid to crack down on 'county lines' gangs.
A series of raids took place between October 7 and 13 in a bid to try and halt the epidemic of criminals moving into rural areas from big cities - and cornering drugs, violence and prostitution.
The National Crime Agency said that as part of the operation £426,040 worth of drugs was seized across the country, as well as swords, machetes and a crossbow.
Nikki Holland, National Crime Agency County Lines lead and Director of Investigations, said: “Tackling the County Lines networks exploiting young people and bringing potentially deadly drugs and violence to communities is a top law enforcement priority.
“These latest results show that, thanks to the co-ordinated effort with our partners in police forces and ROCUs, we are dismantling these criminal networks piece by piece."
A total of 681 people have been safeguarded during the operation, including 292 children, the NCA said.
- 652 men and 91 women were arrested;
- 389 vulnerable adults and 292 children were engaged for safeguarding purposes;
- 655 cuckooed addresses were visited
- 49 ‘deal lines’ were seized;
- There were 41 referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), which assesses individuals as potential victims of human trafficking/modern slavery;
- Officers seized cash totalling £183,976
- 169 weapons were seized including:
- 12 firearms
- swords, machetes, an axe, knives, samurai swords, and a crossbow
- Significant amounts of drugs were recovered, totalling £426,040 :
- £253,200 worth of Cocaine
- £100,170 worth of Crack Cocaine
- £72,670 worth of Heroin
Children and vulnerable individuals are often exposed to physical, mental and sexual abuse as part of the network’s drug dealing business, say police.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for County Lines, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Duncan Ball, said: “We will not treat the criminals who run these lines just as drug dealers.
"We will work tirelessly to prosecute them for these offences but also, where we have the evidence, we will seek to prosecute them for child trafficking under modern slavery laws to reflect the devastating nature of their exploitation of young and vulnerable people.”
Anyone with concerns about County Lines can speak to local police on 101 or call 999 in an emergency. If you’d rather stay anon ymous you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
