Scores arrested in Thames Valley county lines crackdown

Police visited 40 addresses and seized 1,200 wraps of cocaine, heroine and crack cocaine

Scores of people have been arrested in a co-ordinated crack-down on county lines drug dealing and exploitation.

Thames Valley Police said 98 people were held and 40 charged during a five-day operation from 9 to 15 October.

Drugs, cash, weapons and phones were seized and 30 vulnerable people were safeguarded in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, the force said.

The operation was part of a national County Lines Intensification Week.

County lines drug dealing is where organised crime groups exploit children and vulnerable people to move and supply drugs from cities to smaller towns.

Police visited 40 addresses that had been taken over by county lines, seized 1,200 wraps of cocaine, heroine and crack, 1,100 cannabis plants, £67,000 in cash and 121 mobile phones.

Weapons found included machetes and an array of hunting, flick, Rambo and kitchen knives.

Det Ch Insp Lee Newman-West said: "County lines have adapted their approaches after relentless pressure from police forces on their illegal activities by targeting the vulnerable in different areas of the country to run drugs for them.

"We will continue to adapt our approaches to shut down the lines and target line holders in equal parts as safeguarding victims."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].