Police have arrested greater than 1,600 suspects throughout the nation in a blitz on county traces drug sellers.
For every week investigators focused metropolis gangs who exploit weak children to distribute medication in cities and villages.
Police mentioned they’d shut down 250 county traces – the cellular phone hyperlinks gangs use to order and ship their medication to extra rural areas.
Officers seized £1.2m price of sophistication A medicine, greater than one million kilos in money, 100 kilos of hashish and 458 weapons, together with 33 weapons, 377 knives, three crossbows, 21 batons and 28 knuckle dusters.
In the wave of raids throughout England and Wales final week 710 folks, together with 58 youngsters, have been referred for safeguarding help as victims of exploitation.
Notoriously, county traces gangs pay children to behave as medication runners and coerce different weak folks into storing medication of their properties.
Commander Paul Brogden, of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, mentioned: “County traces drug dealing destroys lives, and we’re dedicated to tackling the provision of unlawful medication, and the exploitation and violence that’s steadily related to 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.”
In a collection of operations towards county traces gangs since 2019, the Home Office mentioned police have closed 4,755 traces, arrested 14,887 suspects and referred 7,267 youngsters and different weak folks for safeguarding.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who joined West Midlands Police on raids earlier this month, mentioned: “Vile thugs running county lines drug gangs blight our communities and groom the most vulnerable in society for their personal gain.
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“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 obvious. We is not going to tolerate unlawful medication of any variety, and we should rid our communities of those criminals.”
Source: information.sky.com”