Spot the signs of county lines criminality say police after week of action

Look out for those that may be vulnerable and help spot the signs, that’s the message after a week of action targeting county lines drugs dealing and associated criminal exploitation.

Suffolk Constabulary is again sharing an animated video that shows what county lines drug dealing is and what to look out for if you think a person may be being exploited by a county lines gang. You can find the video at the bottom of this page.

Last week Suffolk, alongside other forces in England and Wales, took part in operations to crackdown on county lines drug dealing and to safeguard those most at risk.

Much of the focus for County Lines Intensification Week, taking place between 25 November and 1 December, was for officers and partner agencies to be aware of and work towards reducing child exploitation, particularly child criminal exploitation associated with county lines.

This can include being forced to transport or sell drugs, or by being exploited into associated criminality, including carrying weapons or being involved in violence, or being the victims of sexual exploitation.

A person under 18 cannot consent to their exploitation. 

County lines is where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries, and often by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs. The county line is the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs.

While the week of action saw the arrest of individuals, there were a range of awareness events and vulnerability checks taking place, as well as training offered for officers to be better able to identify and respond to victims of child exploitation.

Chief Inspector Anna Powell said: “We have had some excellent results, with a high number of arrests, with drugs, weapons and cash seized, but more importantly, we have engaged with people of all ages and shared the signs of what to look out for.

“Anyone can be exploited, those that groom their victims can often be subtle, giving them a belief of friendship or family, but it is exploitation.

“It is important that children, young people, parents, teachers, care workers, police officers and people from all backgrounds are aware of the signs. Looks out for these and keep an eye on those that may be vulnerable to exploitation.”

“The arrests, warrants and searches have been focused on key individuals that intelligence suggests are bringing this type of criminality to our neighbourhoods in Suffolk, affecting communities and placing extra demands on services.

“County lines remain a focus for police and in Suffolk we have seen successes in disrupting lines with our considered, holistic approach.

"I would like to thank our partners, communities and local media who support Suffolk Constabulary in disrupting this criminality.”

The operation involved local policing teams across the county, as well as investigative, proactive and specialist teams.

Across the county there were 30 arrests for a variety of offences, with disruption to a number of county lines gangs.

Nine weapons were recovered including a firearm and an imitation firearm.

Part of the force’s work with vulnerable people and exploitation included address checks at homes where people may have been subjected to home invasion, commonly described as cuckooing. This is a practice where people take over a person's home and use the property to facilitate exploitation, for example using the home as a base to deal drugs from.

Multiple address checks were carried out across the force. As well as providing support and guidance to the residents of these addresses.

Community engagement events took place throughout the week, including hundreds of engagements with students at schools and colleges.

These events also included pop up community events, sessions with emergency services cadets and visits to night-time economy venues and hotels to provide support and explain what county lines is and what to look out for. Taxi and fast-food companies and workers were also visited to highlight potential exploitation.

These events were all focused on highlighting the signs of exploitation through county lines.

Other activity throughout the week included:

• 120g cocaine seized
• 5kg cannabis seize
• 1kg ketamine seized
• Large amount of crack cocaine seized
• 90 smaller deals/wraps of drugs seized
• £8,800 cash recovered
• Six drug-line phones identified
• Officers worked with police cadets to conduct Operation Makesafe visits. These are visits to businesses such as hotels and licensed premises to ensure they are aware of signs of possible child criminal exploitation. 20 hotels were visited across the county.
• Partnership work, with vehicles and individuals searched at HMP Highpoint
• Weapon sweeps
• Education inputs at colleges, schools, care homes and children’s homes.

Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore said: “Once again the results from this week of action are excellent. Removing this scourge from Suffolk is a top priority for all agencies and in particular our police force.

“Prosecuting these offenders and bringing them to justice will make Suffolk much safer and as long as I am Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner I will do all I can to support the constabulary and other agencies in this vital work. The criminals need to understand they will be pursued relentlessly and deserve to be caught and punished severely.”

The county lines drug dealing animation can be found below or viewed / downloaded at: https://vimeo.com/923678675?share=copy