Thirty people arrested in Suffolk during national week of action

Thirty people were arrested in Suffolk during a national week of action targeting drug dealing and associated criminality that often affects the county’s most vulnerable.

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 23-29 June, 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.

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

Sixteen of the 30 arrests came as a result of operations and warrants led by the constabulary’s proactive teams. Of these 16, seven people charged and remanded. These teams also disrupted eight drug lines.  

Across the week drugs, cash and weapons were seized. The full breakdown can be viewed below:

• 1.49kg cocaine - £146,720 estimated value
• 127 smaller deals / wraps of cocaine
• 102 wraps / deals crack cocaine
• Two cannabis plants & 207g cannabis bud
• 200 cannabis edibles
• 100 x small amounts of ketamine & amphetamine
• £10,580 cash recovered
• Two knives seized
• Four deal lines and 37 mobile phones seized

Detective Superintendent Tam Burgess said: “We have had some excellent results, with a number of those arrested quickly charged and remanded.

“Local intelligence is a key part of ensuring we are investigating, targeting and collating evidence to disrupt those that are causing harm in our communities. I would continue to urge you to contact police if you have any concerns or information that may help brings those responsible to justice.

“Our work to tackle county lines drug dealing is not isolated to these weeks of action, it is a key focus for the constabulary and takes place day-in, day-out across the year.

“People involved in county lines are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money often using coercive, intimidating behaviours including use and threats of violence and weapons.

“We have used the week as an opportunity to engage 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.”

Signs of criminal exploitation include:

• Changes in mood or demeanour (acting secretive and withdrawn)
• Changes in the way they dress
• Unexplained or unaffordable new items such as clothes, jewellery, or trainers
• Regularly going missing for long periods of time or staying out late with no explanation
• Unexplained absences from school
• Carrying lots of cash
• A new phone or being in possession of more than one phone

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.

• 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. 13 hotels were visited across the county.
• Education inputs at colleges, schools, care homes and children’s homes.

An operation also took place where officers were joined by partners in Ipswich, Lowestoft and Saxmundham. In total 70 vehicles were stopped to conduct license and insurance checks.

Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (PHV) are often used to transport exploited children and young people between hotels, pubs and other places. The movement of children for exploitation is trafficking and is a form of modern slavery.

Taxi drivers play a valuable role, they are the eyes and ears of the community and they are key partners in tackling exploitation. They also have a legal and social obligation to safeguard children. They need to recognise the signs of exploitation and know how to respond and report concerns, as exploited children may not recognise their exploitation and if they do, they are usually too afraid and ashamed to ask for help themselves.

Taxi drivers are in a unique position to notice when all may not be right with passengers in their vehicle and should pass their concerns on to the police – potentially saving a child from exploitation.

Tim Passmore, Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said: “I am pleased to see this dynamic, targeted approach having such a positive impact right across the county.

“I hope this pro-active enforcement sends out a clear message that criminals are not welcome anywhere Suffolk.

“The threat to society from the illegal drugs business is huge - it wrecks lives, and whole communities are affected. Sadly, the drug barons often prey on individuals who are at risk and very vulnerable, which is absolutely despicable.

“It is clear the constabulary cannot deal with these issues alone, so I am very pleased to see this multi-agency approach being adopted to tackle criminal activity. Suffolk is a relatively safe place to live and we need to keep working together to keep it that way.

“I would like to congratulate all the officers involved in this impressive campaign. The results speak for themselves and build on the excellent work already being done. That said, there is no room for complacency and I can assure everyone I will do everything possible to provide the resources necessary to tackle these crimes.”

If you suspect drug activity report this via the website www.suffolk.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/, call 101, or alternatively you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers to report anonymously – either online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling 0800 555 111.

 

Additional information on cannabis edibles

Cannabis edibles are laced with mood altering ingredients which can cause side effects such as the loss of consciousness or coordination, hallucinations, nausea/ vomiting, lethargy, and heart problems.

They are also illegal and anyone in possession of a product containing Class B drugs risks arrest and prosecution.

There is concern about the use of cannabis edibles by county lines groups, with young people enticed into working for them by supplying them with cannabis edibles before going onto exploit them, using them to carry out a wide range of criminal activity, including acting as couriers to ferry drugs from one area to another. 

The illicit manufacture of cannabis edibles, often as sweets, means production is unregulated and levels of potency can vary, with the chance other harmful substances are mixed in.

These sweets are commonly supplied in packs and can take longer than other cannabis products to start to take effect. This means the potential for accidental overdose is high particularly in young people unaware of the dangers.

Parents are urged to be aware of these products as well as being alert to the signs that children may be involved in county drugs line activity.