The UK police have shut down 10% of phone lines used by county lines drug gangs in a crackdown, which resulted in the arrest of more than 1,000 adults and children and confiscation of £1.2million worth of narcotics.
County lines
All 43 police forces in England and Wales, along with the National Crime Agency and British Transport Police, took part in operations last week. Around 18 guns seized along with more than £500,000 in cash.
The operation of the authorities targeted county lines, a gang model which sees young and vulnerable people used as couriers to move drugs and cash between smaller towns and cities.
The police were able to rescue 30 people as part of the operation, they have been brought back to London, and they are now receiving specialist support.
In London alone, 60 weapons were seized, 85 adults and children were rescued, and 255 people were arrested, according to Manchester Evening News.
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Around £120,000 worth of drugs were seized in Capital, including £60,000 of prescription medicine, £21,000 of cocaine, and £40,000 of heroin.
Around 102 deal lines that were connected to unique phone numbers dialed by users to buy drugs were shut down. It amounts to a tenth of the estimated 800 to 1,100 active county lines that are currently operating in the UK.
Each line can make £25,000 a week, and the police are still not sure where the money ends up. Investigators said restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and a better understanding of mobile phone data had helped them target the drug dealers operating the lines.
Nikki Holland, the director of investigations at the NCA, told Radio 4 that the county lines model needs people to be able to move commodity around, either by road or by rail, as reported by BBC.
Holland also explained the county lines model, she said that it relies on running drugs up and down the country, through primarily children and vulnerable adults, to make the model work. They use violence and fear to make their deal.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty, the National Police Chiefs' Council or NPCC lead for county lines, said that they know now what a county lines phone looks like. He also said that they now know what the activity looks like on the phone.
Cutting off communication
Police officers have suggested to Home Office and to the telecoms industry that they must find a way to stop phones from being used for county lines. A third of the lines are thought to operate out of London, with 12% and 15% run from both Liverpool and Birmingham.
The Met's Detective Superintendent Mike West said that 30 teenagers found across the country had been taken back to the capital since November, with some drug runners found to be as young as 14 years old.
Superintendent West also saw the most line holders arrested in a week, with 23 held during the latest crackdown, according to Sky News.
The officer said that many of the criminals running drug lines are linked to serious violence, including firearms possession and murder.
The crackdown was part of the UK's new efforts to tackle county lines drug dealing from November 2019, which has seen £25 million commitment from the Home Office.
