Drugs ring smashed with 140 CHILDREN among 650 arrests – £3m in drugs seized

The campaign was funded by £5m from the Government’s package of £25million to tackle “county lines”.

This is a type of gang model where young and vulnerable people are used as couriers to move drugs and money around the country.

Home Secretary Priti Patel warned she is “determined” to stop these drugs gangs “terrorising our towns and exploiting our children”. 

She added the “impressive results” from the latest operation show the large investment is having a worthwhile impact. 

Ms Patel said: “I am determined to roll up county lines drugs gangs and stop them from terrorising our towns and exploiting our children.

“I have seen first-hand the important work the police are doing to tackle county lines, and these impressive results show just how much of an impact our investment is having.”

“The police will always have my backing in tackling this threat and, crucially, protecting victims.”

British Transport Police have brought in dogs specialising in detecting drugs to their county lines taskforce.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams, who leads the operation, said: “Our taskforce works nationally, targeting the train routes used by gangs to transport drugs and cash.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) identified more than 3,000 unique deal line numbers last year, of which up to 1,100 were estimated to be active during any given month.

Nikki Holland, NCA director of investigations and joint national county lines lead, said the crackdown on county lines remains a “priority”, despite the challenges being brought on by the continued coronavirus crisis.

She said: “Protecting young and vulnerable people from county lines networks remains a priority for law enforcement, and our work continues despite the challenging situation the UK is facing with the COVID-19 pandemic.”

“We carry out operations daily and without warning, securing hundreds of arrests within a few short months.”

West Midlands Police alone West Midlands Police arrested 155 people and rescued 82 children in the crackdown on county lines drug gangs.

The force also seized 47 weapons, and drugs with a street value of £290,000.

West Midlands Police said it had “safeguarded” 82 children, meaning the force took measures to protect children from danger.

Chief Inspector Ronan Tyrer from the West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “The funding has enabled us to create a taskforce dedicated to targeting top-tier drugs criminals operating in our region.

“These are people running drugs networks, exploiting vulnerable people and making large sums of money on the back of others’ suffering.

“These results are just the start: there will be many more warrants, arrests and seizures over the coming weeks and months.”

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson said: “Clamping down on county lines operation is a huge task for police forces across the country and these results go to show the hard work of our officers paying off, reducing crime and potentially saving lives.

“Working with other forces to ensure we can close down county lines, safeguard young people and lock up the criminals at the top of these gangs is vital to tackling drug crime.”

This is a brekaing story. More to follow…