New Merseyside unit to target drug and gun smuggling

The new collaboration will have a particular focus on the dealing of hard drugs

A specialist police team to intercept drug and gun smugglers has been launched in Merseyside following a tranche of government funding.

The National Crime Agency has set up its third organised crime partnership in the region alongside collaborations with police in London and Scotland.

It will feature a particular focus on exploitation and the dealing of hard drugs.

Policing minister Kit Malthouse said the new scheme would "dismantle" gangs.

Merseyside Police said it had seized more than £4m in cash from criminals in 2020, a record high for the force.

Nikki Holland, the NCA's director of investigations, said: "Along with other port cities and big urban conurbations, Merseyside is a location that has historically been targeted by criminals importing and supplying drugs and weapons."

She said the new partnership would build on the work of police to "intercept" and "shut down" so-called county lines drug dealing networks.

The model involves urban gangs expanding their markets into smaller towns by setting up phone lines to help distribute their drugs, often with the help of children.

Merseyside Police said it had shut down more than 150 county drug deal lines, arrested more than 700 offenders and protected more than 250 vulnerable children and adults from being exploited.

Also, more than 90 people have been detained in Merseyside after a secret messenger platform called Encrochat was infiltrated in 2020.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Critchley said the new collaboration "illustrates perfectly what can be achieved when law enforcement agencies join forces".

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