£300,000 in Drugs Seized During County Lines Enforcement

Law enforcement in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight confiscated illicit drugs valued at over £300,000 within a single week. The Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary reported that between 25 November and 1 December, officers detained 94 individuals identified as participants in county lines activities. County lines describes a drug dealing method where individuals use mobile phones, typically operating from major cities to supply drugs to towns and rural areas within the UK. In addition, twelve young individuals were apprehended on drug-related charges, and three children received separate safeguarding as part of the force’s ongoing investigations. Furthermore, officers dismantled 14 county lines operations, confiscated £134,600 in cash or proceeds from criminal drug supply activities, seized 170 mobile phones and devices, and recovered 33 weapons, which encompassed blades, a crossbow, a baton, and a baseball bat. Experienced criminals often target the residences of vulnerable individuals, frequently young people, to establish drug-dealing operations, a tactic known as cuckooing. Source: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy, the drug related crime and harm tactical lead for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, commented: “We are not naive to the fact that there are county lines operating within our local communities…“The associated violence, which often comes part and parcel with organised county lines, blights our communities and we are doing our utmost to successfully disrupt those main drug supply lines and bring those responsible to justice, via the courts.“We will not stand for it.”