CITY IS KEY IN DRUGS BATTLE
Alarm raised as Portsmouth is revealed as one of the top four destinations for London dealers
NEARLY 100 people involved with London county lines drug dealing have been linked to Portsmouth operations in just 12 months, a report has revealed.
Analysts for London Mayor Sadiq Khan found the city is one of the top four destinations for dealers in the capital.
Police are fighting a daily battle against a highly sophisticated organised crime operation with the city said to have 98 active sellers out of 413 in the county.
NEARLY 100 young people involved with London county lines drug dealing have been linked to Portsmouth operations in just 12 months.
Analysts from City Hall who tracked more than 3,200 exploited young people aged up to 25 in a two-year study found the city is one of the top four destinations for London dealers.
Increased numbers of crack and heroin peddlers were involved in the city in the second year of the study, with 98 recorded in a report.
Hampshire saw the most out of any county, with 413 people linked to the illicit trade – including 113 in Southampton and 83 in Basingstoke.
Senior police repeatedly stress county lines is a national problem.
The City Hall report – compiled by analysts for London Mayor Sadiq Khan – is not exhaustive but gives an indication of how many such criminals are operating in Portsmouth.
Crime commissioner Michael Lane told The News operations are being undertaken ‘ day by day’ to stop serious and organised criminals involved in abuse and enslavement.
He said: ‘The criminals and controllers of those lines are the ones that we want to intervene (in) as that makes the longer term difference.’
Mr Lane added it was not always possible to ‘advertise our successes’ in tackling gangs. Police last month joined an intensification week where county lines operations were targeted, making large
seizures of class A drugs in Gosport and elsewhere in the county valued at £45,000.
Chief Superintendent Nigel Lecointe confirmed offenders arrested were from London, Dorset and Kent.
He said county lines – the supply of drugs from bigger
cities to smaller regional centres – caused ‘misery for our communities’.
Drug-linked violence has spilled out into city streets with stabbings, and two years ago a gang were jailed for a combined 95 years for a shooting in Crookhorn.
Concerns have also been raised by residents.
One woman in North End, who did not want to be named, said: ‘There is clearly a huge problem in the city that needs to be tackled.’
Violence reduction units were set up in late 2019 in
the county’s top tier authorities in a bid to curb serious violence, including that linked to drugs.
Portsmouth City Council has been using Home Office cash to boost youth charity Motiv8 and the council’s early prevention work – leading to them helping ‘an extra 40 young people’ at risk of being exploited by gangs in the drugs trade.
A council spokesman said: ‘We work with young people on a one-to-one basis, giving them emotional support and building up their ability to resist involvement in crime.
‘We’re aware of the City Hall report and this will help inform how we respond to
this issue.’
Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said the fight against county lines ‘is made much harder with Hampshire Constabulary being the second-worst funded force in the country’.
He said Portsmouth getting 18 extra police was not enough, given 1,000 had been lost in Hampshire due to budget cuts.
The MP said: ‘If the government is serious about bringing down crime and addressing the issues our communities face as a result of county lines, our city needs its fair share of investment.’
There is clearly a huge problem in the city that needs to be tackled.
North End resident
Matt and I are off for our first little break with Harley and my mum is coming too.
We’re off to the Isle of Wight to stay at a friend’s flat in Lake. We’ve booked our car ferry with Wightlink and I’m super excited to take Harley on a boat for the first time. She’s never been on any other modes of transport except our car and I’m just looking forward to observing her take it all in.
I’m just looking forward to showing Harley some of the amazing places that are on offer, just across the water from us.
There’s always the added bonus, of course, that we get an extra pair of hands to help us for two days! Wish us luck – I just hope the weather is okay!