County lines gang recruit 40 pupils from one school
POLICE have smashed a ‘county lines’ gang which forced 40 children from the same school to deal cannabis and cocaine – a dealer in every class.
Officers arrested the alleged ringleader of the group in a dawn raid on a house on Wednesday.
Police believe the gang controlled a network of children as young as 14, supplying them with drugs and kits including bags and scales. They also fear young girls were pestered by the gang for sex in exchange for cocaine.
It is understood the network of teenagers recruited numbers up to 40 – the equivalent of one in every class at 1,200-pupil Kingsdown secondary in Swindon.
Wiltshire Police arrested a 27year-old man during the raid in the town on suspicion of possession of class B drugs with intent to supply and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
He has since been released under investigation.
Sergeant Nathan Perry, who planned the 7am raid, said: ‘We found the person we’re looking for, we’ve managed to safeguard the children who were at risk and we’ve found drugs.
‘We all know about county lines and the risks associated with that. The difficulty with this type of drugs operation is that it’s specifically targeting very young children to get them to deal drugs.
‘Some of the information we’ve been passed is that children are not only being coerced into this activity, but also being physically threatened. If they go to police or teachers they’ll be harmed.’
Two older boys, both 16, are believed to have been supplying the network of schoolchildren.
Mr Perry added: ‘The sheer nature of the exploitation of these young people is unacceptable.’
Police Scotland have warned that drug gangs in England are expanding their crime networks and moving north of the Border. Powerful cartels now have a grip in areas including Aberdeenshire, the Lothians, Ayrshire and the Borders. The trend, known as ‘county lines’ dealing, involves gangs selling outside their own cities to limit their chances of being caught.
Children as young as nine are said to have been trafficked from as far afield as Birmingham to Scotland to work in the trade.
The cartels have targeted the North-East in particular. Last year, Aberdeen South Tory MP Ross Thomson said crime gangs from Wolverhampton had infiltrated the community, coercing young people into selling drugs.
He said: ‘This type of drug dealing and exploitation is having a devastating impact. Kids are wooed by these guys. They offer protection, get them hooked with drugs. Before they know it, they’re sucked into a wider cycle of knife crime and gang activity.’