Massive raid in London, Met Police arrest 294 people in County lines drug bust
Operatives of the Metropolitan Police have arrested 294 people and seized 27kg worth of suspected drugs during a week of intensified action focused on county line drug dealing.
Officers from the Met were leading the way as part of a national ‘County Lines Intensification Week’ from 4-10 March.
County lines is a drug supply model that traffics drugs out of cities and into smaller towns and rural areas, exploiting young and vulnerable people that are often threatened with violence and intimidation to carry out the criminality.
The Met police said they used a precise and data-led approach to pursue the ‘line holders’ who controlled where the drugs were distributed and took advantage of vulnerable people to transport and sell drugs on their behalf.
The police said this approach allowed them to intervene and safeguard children from county lines that were being coerced to move the drugs and placed at significant risk.
Detective Superintended Kirsty Mead, who led the Met’s response to county lines, said County lines is much more than drug dealing, saying it caused real, visible misery to young people and vulnerable adults, and completely destroyed communities.
“Officers and partners – such as Catch22, Rescue and Response, The Children’s Society, Transport for London, local authorities, and the transport and health sectors – pulled together to achieve these results and worked hard to safeguard the most vulnerable in our society while also removing harmful offenders from our streets.
“The Met is committed to tackling county lines and our efforts remain ongoing day in, day out, and the week of intensification is only an extension of that work. However, we cannot do this alone. By working closely with parents, schools, local authorities, the Government, the transport and the health sectors, we can bring everyone together and dismantle this devastating distribution model, making London safer for everyone,” Mead stated.
James Simmonds-Read, Prevention National Programme Manager at The Children’s Society, said: “We have been working closely with the Metropolitan Police Service to keep children safe during just this week of action, and throughout the year.
“This week’s focus shines a spotlight on child exploitation and addresses the myth that these children aren’t victims or don’t need our help. They are victims of child exploitation and we must make sure this is recognised and they get the right support.
“Our #LookCloser campaign makes clear child abuse doesn’t care what a child’s background is or what their postcode is. Every child could be at risk. It’s all our responsibility – from police, social workers, taxi and private hire drivers, shop workers, hotel staff, and people using trains and buses — to look out for children being exploited and take action. We’re urging everyone to join us in this fight, to make sure no child slips through the net.”
During the raid, the Met said 210 vulnerable people were safeguarded, 95 county lines shut down, 294 people arrested, 141 people charged for a total of 341 charges; 11kg of Class A drugs seized, 16.2kg of Class B drugs seized, nine firearms, including glocks, revolvers and a handgun – and six imitation firearms seized; 75 weapons, including zombie knives, machetes and swords seized; £452,554 in cash seized and 14 vehicles seized.
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