Police have run another County Lines Intensification Week, coordinated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)-led National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC).
Police report some 1,600 arrests, 100kg of cannabis seized, alongside 40kg of Class A drugs worth over £1.2m, 33 firearms, 377 bladed weapons, and £1.2m in cash.
Commander Paul Brogden, NPCC lead for County Lines, said: “We have made significant inroads to tackle those organised criminals behind county lines across England and Wales. Policing has established successful joint working practices, coordinated through the National County Lines Coordination Centre, which has enabled best practice, experience and knowledge to be shared across the country which has led to significant arrests and shutting down of lines used by criminals.
“However, we cannot arrest our way out of the threat posed by county lines, and we must ensure we continue to take a much wider approach in order to see long term impact. The County Lines Strategic Assessment provides the base of where we are currently and where we need to go.
“County Lines drug dealing destroys lives, and we are committed to stopping the supply of illegal drugs, and the exploitation and violence that is frequently associated with it.
“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.”
Greater Manchester Police for example report that their County Lines Team have shut down 120 county lines, seized around 30kg of drugs and £400k cash, arrested 235 people for a range of offences including drug supply, modern slavery offences, and money laundering, and over 100 vulnerable adults and children have been referred to specialised safeguarding services – all ahead of targets set by the Home Office. Kate Green, Manchester Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, hailed the results. She said: “We have seen in the BBC’s ‘The Detective’s’ programme how these criminals operate and the abhorrent levels of violence and fear they instigate.”
As an example of how ‘county lines’ drug dealing means that drug crime happens not only in big cities, see on the Norfolk Police website a recent Norwich Crown Court case.
While always dialling 999 in an emergency, info can also be passed anonymously to the crime-reporting charity Crimestoppers by calling freephone 0800 555111, or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
