Raids target County Lines drug dealers and lead to 18 arrests in police operation
A crackdown on the supply of crack cocaine and heroin linked to County Lines operations across the North of England has led to 18 arrests during a week-long operation.
Ten of those arrests were made by Durham Constabulary as part of Operation Girona, which aims to halt the sale of the drugs, with the latest action aimed at disrupting a suspected organised criminal group.
The force have carried out raids at a total of 15 addresses in Peterlee, Seaham, Stanley, Pelton Fell, Gateshead, Newcastle and in Widnes, Crewe, the Wirral and Liverpool as part of the action.
County Lines is where illegal drugs are moved from one area to another, often across police and council boundaries, usually by children or vulnerable people who are coerced into it by gangs, with the term referring to the mobile phones used to take the orders of drugs.
More than 100 officers from Durham, Northumbria, Merseyside, Cheshire and the North East Regional Special Operations Unit (NERSOU) took part in the action.
It saw the seizure of £16,000 in cash, 175g of heroin worth £2,800, more than 12,000 suspected illegal cigarettes, 165 packets of tobacco and 32 mobile phones. Vehicles were also recovered.
A total of 13 men, aged between 18 and 57, and five women, aged between 31 and 59, were all arrested on suspicion of Conspiracy to Supply Class A drugs throughout the United Kingdom.
They have since been released under investigation.
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Thubron, who led the Durham side of the operation, said: “Drugs ruin lives and County Lines drug dealing is not something we will tolerate in our region.
“We will always work with our partners to disrupt the supply of illegal drugs, especially County Lines which sees dangerous criminals selling addictive substances to vulnerable drug users and exploit their addictions for financial gain.
“If you have suspicions about people in your area, I would urge you to report it so we can bring perpetrators to justice and help protect the vulnerable and our communities from these predators.
“The more intelligence we have from our communities, the bigger impact we can have in making our communities safer.”