ENGLISH DRUG GANGS TARGET RURAL SCOTS
County Lines dealers move in on towns and villages
Gangs from English cities are targeting rural Scots in so-called County Lines operations, we can reveal.
The dealers are using threats of violence to take over the homes of vulnerable people as bases for selling drugs in small towns and villages. Police have launched an offensive against the crime gangs from cities including Liverpool and Manchester.
The new tactic adopted by the dealers is called County Lines because the gangs use one phone to control sales in multiple farflung areas. The crime wave is being blamed for fuelling drug deaths in the Highlands. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Bell said: “We have a dedicated group focusing on County Lines.”
People living in rural communities around Scotland are being targeted by ruthless “county lines” gangsters who want to take over their home to sell drugs. The criminals from the north of England use threats and violence to force vulnerable people in countryside towns and villages into helping them sell drugs.
Police say the problem – first seen in Scotland’s north-east – has now spread across the country and a dedicated team of detectives has been set up in response.
The charity Crimestoppers has launched a campaign to raise awareness among young people of “county lines” – socalled because of the tactic of using one phone number to arrange drug deals at multiple locations across the country. DCI Mark Bell, of Police Scotland’s Organised Crime Partnership, said: “Drug dealing is not new. What is different is the exploitation. That’s the whole crux of what county lines is.
“Essentially, criminal groups are bullying people, taking over their homes for either short or long periods and using it as a base to conduct their illegal activities.”
While the problem was first identified in Aberdeenshire, it has now spread to Dumfries and Galloway and the far north of Scotland.
Gangs transport drugs across the border from cities in the north of England.
The packages are often kept small and deliveries are frequent to avoid significant seizures by the police. Vulnerable people such as addicts or teens are targeted to front the operations.
Experts say this can include children as young as 15 and are often people who have been through the care system.
They are used as couriers or their properties are taken over to store drugs or cash – a practise known as “cuckooing”. The new Organised Crime Partnership allows Police Scotland and National Crime Agency staff to share intelligence on the gangs.
DCI Bell added: “Within Police Scotland we have a dedicated group of people who are focusing on county lines and without going into numbers or volume we’re confident we have a good picture of county lines.”
The drugs are typically class-as such as heroin and crack cocaine but cannabis and a range of illegal substances are being dealt. DCI Bell said police have made a number of seizures, but added: “It’s not just about seizing tonnes and tonnes of drugs – that’s not the key to what county lines (policing) is. It’s more basic than that – it’s about protecting vulnerable people.
“If you can prevent that you prevent the county line.” The NCA has identified around 2,000 county lines operating across the UK. Grooming techniques are often similar to those used in child sexual exploitation and often young people don’t see themselves as victims.
Flattered by attention and gifts, as a result they are less likely to speak to police. Last month the Crimestoptwo
pers charity – where people can pass on anonymous tipoffs – launched a campaign to tackle cuckooing and county lines drugs networks affecting Scotland.
The charity’s youth programme Fearless will be visiting schools in the Aberdeen area to promote its “spot the signs” campaign to young people.
The campaign is also likely to be rolled out across Scotland.
Angela Parker, Crimestoppers’ Scotland national manager, said gangs see rural areas as a soft target because they are less likely to find themselves in a turf war with other drug dealers.
She said that the public could help by looking out for signs that someone had been drawn in to drug dealing.
Signs to be vigilant for include access to numerous mobile phones, unexplained bus or train tickets, unexplained expensive gifts, school truancy or going missing and signs of assault or malnutrition.
She said: “These gangs can use intimidation and violence and people might not know who to turn to. “People from the care system are often a target. “But communities are the best form of intelligence. We don’t want people to feel fearful, we want to raise awareness.”
Last week the mother of a boy who had been forced to join a county lines gang supplying drugs in Scotland when he was just 13 spoke out.
The boy, who is from Greater Manchester, was arrested by police in Scotland as part of an anti-drugs operation.
She said he first went missing from the family home after months of truanting and struggling at school. “Things went from bad to worse,” she said.
“I thought it was just being an adolescent but it went deeper than that. “When he was brought back he was really erratic. He had this little phone that was ringing. He just wasn’t himself.
“To me it looked like he was on something. “When I approached him about it, he was like, ‘I’ve got to do it’.
“I asked him what he meant and he said, ‘They are men. I’ve got to do it for these men’.”