County lines crackdown: Arrests made and drugs, weapons and cash seized in Warwickshire

Last week (November 25 to December 1) saw Warwickshire Police take part in the county lines intensification week, which is a nationally coordinated week of action focussed on disrupting the supply of drugs and protecting the vulnerable people they exploit.

County lines is the name given to drug dealing where organised criminal groups from cities exploit young people from smaller towns and rural areas into moving and supplying drugs.

The ‘county line’ is the mobile phone line used to take the orders of drugs.

Here is a summary of the week’s activity in Warwickshire:

• 19 arrests for drug related offences
• 90 wraps of crack cocaine seized
• 82 wraps of heroin seized
• 150 cannabis plants seized
• 6 grams of cocaine seized
• 5 bags of blue meth seized
• 12 mobile phones and an additional 2 sim cards seized
• £17,857 in cash seized
• 1 decommissioned firearm seized
• 1 air rifle seized
• 4 BB guns seized
• 3 knives seized
• 178 drug related intelligence logs submitted.
• A closure order enforced at Warwick House in Nuneaton.
• 4 national referral mechanism referrals made for suspected victims of modern slavery
• 15 visits made to vulnerable people previously exploited by drug gangs
• Engagement events at 10 schools, two colleges and six hotels
• 30 taxi drivers engaged with.
• A warrant at a cannabis farm in Leamington.
• A man arrested as part of an investigation into a sweet shop suspected of being used as a front for dealing drugs.

Detective Inspector Pete Sherwood from the Serious and Organised Crime Team said: “It’s fairly safe to say that drug dealers in Warwickshire will be significantly out of pocket this Christmas.

"Bad news for them, great news for residents in the county.

“Despite what some people think, the production and supply of drugs is not a victimless crime.

"Far from it, it leads to the exploitation of some of the most vulnerable people in society and fuels violent crime and other types of offending such as shoplifting and burglary.

“So much of the work carried out during the week was as a result of information provided by the public.

"This is vital in helping us tackle drug crime and exploitation in the county. Thanks for all your support and please keep the information coming.”

For more information on County lines drug crime go to: https://www.warwickshire.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/cl/county-lines/