Warwickshire police urge residents to look out for signs of exploitation following crackdown on drug gangs

Warwickshire residents are being urged by police to help make the county a safer place by looking out for the signs of young people being exploited by drugs gangs.

The plea comes following a week of action targeting drug dealing across the county.

During Warwickshire Police’s County Lines Intensification Week 18 arrests were made and two people charged as a result, eight warrants were executed across the county and drugs with a street value of £167,000 were seized.

Eight knives and two imitation firearms were seized along with £6,800 in cash.

Three missing people were found and referred for safeguarding and safeguarding was put in place for another five vulnerable people.

On top of this, Safer Neighbourhood Teams visited vulnerable people, raised awareness of the signs of exploitation amongst taxi drivers and hotel workers, and gave presentations at schools and colleges.

County Lines Intensification Week – which ran from Mondays October 3 to October 10– was part of a national initiative to tackle the issue where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries.

A common feature in county lines drug supply is the exploitation of young and vulnerable people.

They are targeted to act as drug runners so they can avoid detection by police.

In some cases dealers will take over a property belonging to a vulnerable person and use it to deal drugs from.

This is known as cuckooing.

People exploited in this way will quite often be exposed to physical, mental and sexual abuse, and will sometimes be trafficked to areas a long way from home to sell drugs.

Det Chief Insp Neil Readers, head of Warwickshire Police Proactive CID, said: “This was an extremely successful week that left drug dealers in Warwickshire significantly out of pocket.

We also gathered a significant amount of intelligence that will help us to continue to target county lines criminals.

“Our intelligence has shown that following last week’s activity the supply of drugs in some parts of the county has dried up considerable; this is great news for local people.

"Unfortunately, we know this won’t last and this is why we are appealing for the public to help us tackle the problem.

“Please be aware of the signs of drug dealing and exploitation and report concerns to police.

"The information you provide be the missing piece that helps us to protect a vulnerable person, bring offenders to justice and take drugs off the streets.”

For more information on spotting the signs of county lines drug crime and exploitation click here https://bit.ly/3SRewcF

To report concerns around drugs and exploitation go to www.warwickshire.police.uk/report or call 101.

Alternatively, information can be provided anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.