Metropolitan Police say they made more than 200 arrests and seized over one million pounds worth of drugs during a week-long crackdown on county lines gangs in London.
From Monday February 27 to Sunday March 5, Met officers charged 105 people with a total of 223 charges, which included 150 drug trafficking charges and 131 charges relating to Class A and B drugs. Additionally, as a result of of the operation, 177 vulnerable people were safeguarded.
In the same period, officers seized 8.3 kilograms of Class A drugs, 37.6 kilograms of Class B drugs, £652,214 in cash, five firearms and 51 weapons which included knives, machetes and swords.
Met Police said the operation has also revealed several cases of vulnerable children being preyed on by offenders and “used as a commodity”.
“Instead of criminalising these children, officers work with Rescue and Response to ensure they are safeguarded and supported,” the Met said in a statement.
Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart, the lead responsible officer for county lines at the Met, said that county lines – a drug supply model which traffics drugs into rural areas and smaller towns, away from major cities – was “intrinsically linked to homicide and serious violence”.
He added that 80% of county lines offenders charged with drug trafficking during this financial year had previously been arrested for violence.
“County lines networks prey upon children and young people, trafficking them and subjecting them to modern slavery involving horrendous emotional and physical abuse,” Mr Sewart 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.”
Additionally, the county lines networks preyed on the vulnerable to fuel Class A drug addictions, he said.
Earlier this month, the British Transport Police (BTP) warned that teenage boys as young as 13 were being lured with promises of money and gifts to work for drug dealers.
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Young people were offered cash, mobile phones, vapes and clothes to take advantage of so-called “business opportunities” promoted on social media, with BTP officers saying they had seen messages sent out by drug dealers asking “who wants to make £500 this weekend?” in a bid to draw young people into gangs.
In a survey of 1,500 boys aged 13 to 19 commissioned by BTP, 19% said they or a friend had been offered work by a drug dealer.
The survey, carried out by OnePoll, found that 20% of the boys polled knew someone who sells or transports drugs.
It said that 15% of the teenagers had seen drugs being offered or sold on social media, and 18% at school.
