Warwickshire Police help enforce crackdown on county lines crime

ON an exceptionally icy and frosty morning late last month the Herald was invited to go and make an unexpected house call.

No, we weren’t called upon to assist Santa give out presents – but rather witness Warwickshire Police make their presence felt – to put it mildly.

Around 6.30am we met with officers from the safer neighbourhood and tactical support teams at Stratford Police Station as they prepared to execute a warrant at a suspected drug dealer’s flat in the town centre.

Around a dozen officers are involved with the operation, including an ‘intel officer’ in plain clothes who had intelligence that dealing had been going on at the flat.

The Herald rides along with the tactical support unit in their marked van, while the safer neighbourhood team head out on foot and meet us outside the flat, which is in a block of four run by Orbit Housing.

All is dark and quiet – not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse – as we stealthily enter the main entrance of the building.

Out in front are two particularly sturdy officers – tall and dressed in dark protective clothing and helmets they resemble a couple of Darth Vaders not to be messed with.

Armed with an enforcer – a battering ram-type device they also refer to as a ‘bosher’ – and a couple of mean-looking electric saws, they don’t hang about.

“Police, open up!” is delivered at ear-shattering volume before the bosher lands thunderously against the flat’s front door, which seems to set the whole block of flats quaking.

With the door putting up an admirable defence, the saws are put into action and quickly chomp through the door panels. In the blink of an eye a massive hole emerges through which officers pile, quickly putting the six people inside in cuffs.

The operation was one of many conducted as part of County Lines Intensification Week – which ran from 25th November to 1st December.

An officer explained: “This is a nationally coordinated week of action focused on disrupting the supply of drugs and protecting the vulnerable people they exploit.

“County lines is the name given to drug dealing where organised criminal groups from cities exploit young people from smaller towns and rural areas into moving and supplying drugs. The ‘county line’ is the mobile phone line used to take drug orders.”

The summary of what was captured during the week’s operation in the county reads like a rather extravagant and dangerous version of the 12 Days of Christmas: no partridges but gun cartridges, no pipers piping but plenty of crack pipes – you get the idea.

In England and Wales the week of action saw 1,660 arrested, the closure of 261 county lines and the seizure of more than £3m of drugs, 557 weapons and four XL bully dogs.

Warwickshire Police were pleased with their haul during the week – see below.

Det Insp Pete Sherwood from the serious and organised crime team said: “It’s fairly safe to say that drug dealers in Warwickshire will be significantly out of pocket this Christmas. Bad news for them, great news for residents in the county.

“Despite what some people think, the production and supply of drugs is not a victimless crime. Far from it, it leads to the exploitation of some of the most vulnerable people in society and fuels violent crime and other types of offending such as shoplifting and burglary.”

He added: “So much of the work carried out during the week was as a result of information provided by the public. The information you provide is vital in helping us tackle the scourge of drug crime. ”

Frustratingly for officers, the Stratford raid didn’t lead to any arrests.

An officer explained: “We raided a flat in the Guildhall area in response to concerns raised by the community. We received reports of lots of unusual comings and goings at the flat and off the back of this we were able to develop intelligence that suggested it was being used to deal drugs from.

“Unfortunately, when officers raided, they found no drugs but there was significant evidence of drug use that will be provided to the housing association to allow them to consider further action.”

Sgt Clair Price from the Stratford safer neighbourhood team added: “I’d like to thank the local community for all the information they provide that helps us tackle drug dealing in the town. Every bit of information provided is assessed and helps us get a better picture of the problem areas in Stratford. Please keep it coming.”

A spokesperson from Oribit commented: “We do not condone anti-social and drug-related behaviour in any of our properties and understand the negative impact that these issues have on other residents. We therefore take any reports seriously and are committed to working in close partnership with Warwickshire Police, other authorities and the community to ensure appropriate action can be taken, including pursuing legal action for breach of tenancy where appropriate. We encourage all of our customers to continue to report any concerns to the police, as well as to ourselves, as we work together to continue to deter and prevent potential issues in the future.”