More than 1,600 arrested in police blitz on County Lines gangs

The week-long national police operation saw 250 County Lines being taken down.

Officers seized £1.2 million worth of Class A and Class B drugs during the County Lines Intensification Week, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)-led National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC)

In addition, more than £1.2 million in cash was seized, together with 33 firearms, 377 bladed weapons, three crossbows, 21 batons and 28 knuckle dusters.

In total, 710 vulnerable people, including 58 children, were also referred by police to safeguarding services through the national operation.

NPCC lead for County Lines, Commander Paul Brogden, said: “County Lines drug dealing destroys lives, and we are committed to tackling the supply of illegal drugs, and the exploitation and violence that is frequently associated with it.

“County Lines remains a top priority for policing and our latest intensification week figures show significant inroads policing has made into these criminal networks with 250 County Lines closed during the week. Not only that, but we have continued to go after the line holders and arrested over 1,600 criminals involved in County Lines and taken extremely dangerous weapons, including 33 firearms off the street.

“Our message is clear to anyone running county lines across the country; we will be relentless in our pursuit of you, we will shut down your county lines, we will take drugs off our streets and we will rescue those who are being exploited by you.”

The intensification week, which ran from Monday October 9 to Sunday October 15, saw 1,613 people arrested, £437,000 worth of crack cocaine and £100,000 worth of heroin, 40kg of cocaine and 103kg of cannabis seized, and £1,284,729.88 in cash and 458 weapons seized.

Seventeen firearms, including Glocks, revolvers, imitation firearms and live ammunition, were seized by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) alone. In addition it, seized a further 56 weapons, including Zombie knives, machetes and swords.

MPS officers closed 92 County Lines in collaboration with partner forces.

Acting Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, who led the operation for the MPS, said: “County Lines devastates lives. It is much more than drug dealing and causes real visible harm to London communities, as well as local communities in towns and cities throughout the UK. Drug dealers exploit vulnerable children and adults and cause wider violence.

“This week of action shows the Met are doing all we can, in partnership with county forces, to close drug lines, arrest and charge offenders, protect vulnerable people and prevent harm to communities.

“Through proactive and precise policing, our approach targeting high-harm offenders, reduces crime. We recognise we need the help of our partners and the public, which is why we work closely with youth charities and local authorities, to ensure that those who are most vulnerable and caught up in drug trafficking get the help that they desperately need to turn their lives around.”

The Home Office says exploitation, coercion, and violence are cornerstones of the County Lines trade, and cannabis is used by gangs to trap young people into debt, forcing them to transport their drugs and sell to other children to continue the cycle.

“By rescuing these vulnerable people from the grip of these gangs and helping them into support services such as the Home Office-funded Catch 22, this cycle of violence and abuse is being broken,” it said.

In one operation attended by the Home Secretary during the NPCC’s Intensification Week in the West Midlands, £850,000 worth of cannabis was seized from cannabis factories, with more than 850 plants and nearly 6kg of dried cannabis recovered.

Last week’s enforcement successes come as new Home Office statistics show that since April 2022, 1,700 lines have been taken down though the Government’s County Lines Programme, alongside 3,300 arrests and 4,100 vulnerable people referred to support services, highlighting the success law enforcement, government and support services are having in bringing down this heinous criminality.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said: “Vile thugs running County Lines drug gangs blight our communities and groom the most vulnerable in society for their personal gain.

“Our police officers are working every day to break up these criminal networks pushing illegal drugs on our streets, and since April 2022 they have shut down over 1,700 County Lines through the County Lines Programme.

“My message is clear. We will not tolerate illegal drugs of any kind, and we must rid our communities of these criminals.”

The Government established the County Lines Programme in 2019 to tackle the abusive and violent County Lines trade, providing forces and victim support services a clear strategy to end the terror these gangs inflict on our streets.

Adopted by the four forces that face the majority of County Lines criminality – Metropolitan Police Service, Merseyside Police, Greater Manchester Police and West Midlands Police – the County Lines Programme closed more than 1,700 lines between April 2022 and June 2023, achieving in just over a year 85 per cent of the three-year target set in the 2021 Drug Strategy.

The Home Office says key to the programme is victim support, and the Government has put up to £5 million into services such as Catch 22 and Missing People’s SafeCall service to help young people and their families as they escape these gangs.

To continue to help these victim support services and frontline workers, updated guidance has also been published by the Home Office on Friday (October 20) that will aid the identification of potential victims and appropriate safeguarding referral routes, and ensure those who are in need receive help.

Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) chair Donna Jones said “County Lines drugs networks are responsible for serious violence in our communities and must be tackled robustly. Without interventions, these criminal gangs take root in our towns and cities by exploiting children and vulnerable adults to further their destructive business model.

“PCCs play a vital role in coordinating multi-agency approaches to combat County Lines networks, and this work is having a significant impact. Our focus remains on interventions which reduce the demand for drug supply and support for those at risk of getting drawn into criminality before it’s too late.

“We will continue to step up our efforts to support the policing response during County Lines intensification week and beyond. This coordinated national effort aims to bear down on organised criminals operating across the country, and it reaffirms that all agencies must work together to combat this nationwide issue.”

Kate Green, joint serious organised crime and specialist capabilities joint lead with Ms Jones, added: “County lines is a despicable form of grooming and exploitation of vulnerable people by organised criminal groups and it must be stopped. In Greater Manchester, we are doing that through dedicated teams within Greater Manchester Police, which last year successfully dismantled 85 county lines operating in our city-region.

“We are also raising awareness through Programme Challenger, which brings together police, local authorities, criminal justice agencies and the voluntary sector. Last year, Challenger commissioned a schools-based education performance delivered to over 50 primary schools.

“Weeks of action like this are vital in ensuring we continue to disrupt this criminal activity and protect communities and young people in particular from exploitation.”

James Simmonds-Read, national programme manager at The Children’s Society, said: “Criminals groom young people in person or online and use terrifying threats and violence to force them into crimes such as carrying drugs and fraud or exploiting them sexually.

“Young people can be targeted at fast food outlets, forced to travel on trains and in taxis late at night, and are abused behind closed doors, in hotels and holiday lets.

“Making sure that police forces and other experts can detect the signs of exploitation in young people is vital. These signals can be subtle so it’s encouraging to see that more young victims can now get the help they urgently need.

“As the nights draw darker, we urge members of the public and businesses to stay vigilant. Spotting signs of child exploitation, especially in settings such as fast-food joints, taxis and hotels is crucial. Any young person can be targeted, anywhere, but these places are often used to target, move, and abuse young people.”