Major county lines crackdown sees police seize £1m worth of drugs and make over 200 arrests

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Police have made more than 200 arrests and seized over £1 million worth of drugs during a crackdown on county lines gangs.

The operation, which ran from 27 February to 5 March saw 105 people charged with a total of 223 offences. Officers seized over 45 kilograms of drugs, £652,214 in cash, five firearms and 51 weapons including knives, machetes and swords.

The Met Police has managed to shut down 77 lines of supply and safeguard 177 vulnerable people, including children who are preyed on by offenders and used to transport the drugs, the force said.

Instead of criminalising the children involved, officers have worked with Rescue and Response teams to ensure they are supported.

The Met has clamped down over 1,800 drug supply lines and arrested more than 3,300 county-line offenders since November 2019.

In the same period, the Met’s Operation Orochi County Lines Taskforce used data tracking to arrest more than 1,100 line holders, resulting in 88 per cent being charged and 94 per cent convicted.

The Met Police stated that county lines are intrinsically linked to homicide and serious violence.

Some 80 per cent of offenders charged with drug trafficking this year have previously been arrested for violence.

A spokesperson from the Met Police said that offenders prey on and take advantage of children and young people, putting them through emotional and physical abuse.

Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart, lead officer for county lines in the Met said: “Victims are coerced through violence, blackmail and debt bondage, to hold and supply drugs. Those involved use weapons and serious violence including kidnaps to intimidate and threaten victims.

“County lines networks also prey upon the vulnerable to fuel Class A drug addiction, which poses huge-socio economic consequences for communities; increasing anti-social behaviour and acquisitive crimes, including burglary and robbery.

“The Met takes a multi-agency approach to tackling county lines and exploitation, working with partners to protect the vulnerable through prevention and diversion.

“The Met is committed to relentlessly pursue those responsible for county lines drug supply, bringing them to justice for their abhorrent crimes.”