A suspected County Lines drug dealer was arrested in Warrington, one of 32 arrests made during a week of action across the region as police closed down 14 operations.
Criminals linked to county lines are targeted on a daily basis within Cheshire and the Constabulary has dedicated resources to pursue and disrupt anyone involved in this type of criminality.
Running from Monday 4 March to Sunday 10 March, the force joined a week-long national initiative, highlighting the day-to-day work our officers are putting in to stop criminals from within the region as well as protect and educate vulnerable people.
From the Local Policing Units, Roads and Crime, Serious and Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) and intelligence teams, everyone is committed to working together to ensure Cheshire remains a hostile environment for criminals.
A county line can be operated by an organised crime group (OCG) or individuals who use devices to deal drugs to users.
Last week alone, Cheshire’s officers closed 14 individual county lines across Warrington, Winsford, Chester and Ellesmere Port with numerous people charged with controlling the line in each case.
In Warrington, officers arrested Daniel Dobbs, 24, of Dorrington Walk, Liverpool, and later charged him with the supply of class A drugs (Heroin and Cocaine), possession of a bladed article, possession of criminal property.
In Winsford, Kyle Kirton, 22, of Esk Road, Winsford, was arrested and subsequently charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (cocaine) and possession of criminal property.
In Ellesmere Port, 13 people were also charged by officers in connection to the supply of class B drugs (cannabis), they include:
• Kyle Phillips, 27, of Capenhurst Way, Ellesmere Port
• Jason Mayers, 32, of Princess Road, Ellesmere Port
• Ryan Neild, 24, of Luton Road, Ellesmere Port
• Daniel Neild, 32, of Luton Road, Ellesmere Port
• Adam Jones, of Durham Court, Ellesmere Port
• Gary Tushingham, 27, of Acre Road, Ellesmere Port
• Aiden Johnson, 30, of Kenilworth Court, Ellesmere Port
• Thomas Cooper, 22, of Brightsmith Road, Ellesmere Port
• Curtis Agarry, 26, of King Street, Ellesmere Port
• Ethan McLaughlin, 22, of King Street, Ellesmere Port
• Joe Henry, 33, of Blacon Point Road, Ellesmere Port
• Nathan Elliot 30, of Faraday Road, Ellesmere Port
• Bailey Davies, 24, of Bath Street, Rhyl
In total 32 people have been arrested over the course of the week and over £40,000 of Class A drugs and £350,000 in cash has been seized.
Officers have also recovered numerous weapons including selection of knives, knuckle dusters batons, machetes and a stun gun.
A big part of the fight against drug dealing is the seizure of assets bought with criminally earned money, with officers seizing a number of designer watches, clothing, computer equipment, electric bikes, cars and vans and drones.
Increased patrols across our road networks have recovered drugs and cash with increased plain-clothed activity targeting areas known to be used by drug dealers.
Warrants have also been executed across the force at addresses used to store or deal drugs and addresses where drug dealing has affected vulnerable people in the past were re-visited to make sure that that no dealers had returned to exploit the occupants of the address.
Schools across the region have been provided with information leaflets about county lines with inputs by officers also given to pupils.
The Constabulary also joined their colleagues from the British Transport Police at Chester Train Station to target dealers using the rail network to bring drugs into Cheshire.
Detective Inspector Robert Balfour, of the forces Serious and Organised Crime Unit, said:“Preventing and protecting Cheshire’s communities from serious and organised crime is a key focus for the Constabulary. We have trained officers and dedicated resources to combat county lines dealing and this week has been a great opportunity to join the national initiative.
“Dismantling county lines is daily business for the force, who work alongside our neighbouring forces and regional assets to deal with this kind of criminality – I can assure our Cheshire community that we tackle county lines in our everyday policing not just when there is a national operation.
“This week has provided an excellent opportunity to highlight what we are doing to protect communities and individuals, and directly target the individuals responsible for dealing any drug across Cheshire.
“Over the last 12 months we have had great success dismantling county lines. We are closing more lines than ever before, achieving lengthy custodial sentences for line controllers and our own county lines team approaching 200 years worth of sentences in little over a year.
“There has also been a drive to educate the younger generations, with multiple visits to schools and youth organisations and having officers in areas that have historically suffered from county lines to educate the residents and businesses to increase their engagement with the police. It is so important that everyone feels that they can come forward to us, so we can take action.
“That said the problem has not gone away; we still have a lot of work to do and will continue to work with our partners and the local communities we serve to attack this form of criminality and protect whom it affects.”
Anyone with information about illegal drug activity in their area can report it to Cheshire Police via the Cheshire Police website or report it to Crimestoppers via the Crimestoppers website.
1 Comment
Well done all concerned in the Op