Police shut down county lines operations in Swindon

Weapons, cash and drugs were seized during the operations

Operations targeting drug gangs shut down 15 county lines gangs in a town, police have said.

Wiltshire Police made multiple arrests and seized weapons during an operation in Swindon at the start of October.

A total of 25 people were arrested and 14 of them have now been charged with drug offences.

The county's police and crime commissioner Philip Wilkinson said the "loathsome trade" of drug dealing had been disrupted.

Officers from the Wiltshire Force's Fortitude Team were supported by officers from the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, National Crime Agency and local community policing teams.

During the two-week operation, raids were carried out on several properties in Swindon.

Weapons, including a machete, were confiscated and about 500 wraps of drugs - containing heroin and cocaine - were recovered along with £21,770 in cash.

The 14 people charged with offences connected with drug dealing were 13 men and one woman, ranging in ages from 18 to 44-years-old.

Det Insp Megan Kenzie from Wiltshire Police said the public had a key role to play in helping the police disrupt drug dealing

Det Insp Megan Kenzie, head of the Fortitude Team in Swindon, said: "This is a fantastic result targeting and disrupting 15 County Lines in a very short period of time.

"We know that the public have real concerns about the impact of county lines in their communities, however, I hope they should feel reassured by the ongoing efforts and hard work by officers and staff across the Force in tackling this type of organised criminality."

PCC Philip Wilkinson said: "Wiltshire's communities deserve to be free from the scourge of County Lines gangs.

"This proactive, robust, response to the ever-increasing issue of County Lines by Wiltshire Police, and supported by the NCA, is to be applauded.

"We want the organised crime gangs who coordinate this loathsome trade to get the message: Wiltshire isn't a soft target."