Eighteen arrested in county lines drugs crackdown

The week-long crackdown by Lincolnshire Police followed a similar one in March

Twenty-seven people, including four children, have been protected from county lines drugs gangs during a crackdown in Lincolnshire which led to 18 arrests, police said.

Officers seized drugs worth £25,000, a haul of weapons, counterfeit notes and 4,000 cigarettes during the week-long targeted raids by Lincolnshire Police, in which potential cuckooing victims were found at 31 addresses.

A 22-year-old man was charged with drug crimes and a modern slavery offence, while 17 other people were arrested for various drugs and robbery offences.

The force said it had dismantled two suspected county lines groups during the operation between 23 and 29 June.

Cuckooing involves individuals or gangs manipulating vulnerable people to gain access to their properties for drug operations.

Det Supt Kerry Webb said four children and 23 adults were being exploited

Det Supt Kerry Webb said: "These gangs use runners, often vulnerable people, to deliver the drugs.

"It is exploitative and often violent. The networks are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence - including sexual violence - and weapons."

She said four children and 23 adults who were being exploited had been safeguarded.

Tyreece Moran, 22, of Brooksby Lane, Nottingham, was charged with being involved in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin in the Grantham area, and exploitation under the Modern Slavery Act 2015. He was remanded into custody.

The force said £2,215 in cash and £5,000 in counterfeit notes had been confiscated, along with two vehicles, air rifles, a pistol and 13,700 grams of tobacco.

County lines is the term used to describe drug-dealing networks connecting urban and rural areas, using phone lines across the UK.

Ms Webb added: "Our communities play a huge part in the success of cracking down on this by providing much-needed intelligence around drug-dealing, suspicious activity, or vulnerability, and we would encourage people to continue to do this."

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