County lines raids: Force mounts largest ever drugs operation

Addresses in Warrington, Salford, Merseyside and Birmingham were raided

Twenty-five people have been held in dawn raids as part of a police force's largest ever operation against so-called county lines drug dealers.

The raids, led by Cheshire Constabulary, targeted addresses in Warrington, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Birmingham.

Twenty-three men and two women were held on suspicion of supplying crack cocaine and heroin.

Undercover offices bought the drugs as part of the investigation.

County lines is a police term used to describe how criminals bring illegal drugs into areas across the UK and exploit vulnerable adults and children by using them to move drugs and money on their behalf.

Twenty-five people were arrested throughout the morning

Sixteen addresses in Warrington, nine in the Salford and Worsley areas, three in Merseyside and one in Birmingham were visited, with 14 men arrested in Warrington, six men and a woman in Greater Manchester, two men and a woman in Merseyside and a man in Birmingham.

The suspects, aged between 19 and 55, remain in police custody.

The force was backed by officers from Greater Manchester Police and Merseyside Police, and also saw cash, vehicles, watches, clothing and mountain bikes seized.

Det Supt Simon Draco confirmed it was the largest single operation of its kind planned by police in Cheshire.

He said: "In this operation we believe homes were taken over by the organised crime groups to be used as drug dens and on occasions they utilised teenagers to be part of their criminality."