Home Secretary praises work of British Transport Police and other forces amid nationwide County Lines crackdown

The Home Secretary has praised the impact of a nationwide crackdown on county lines drug dealing by forces including British Transport Police.

BTP created a dedicated County Lines Taskforce in December 2019 following funding from the Home Office.

It is the only force which tackles the issue nationally, carrying out operations at train stations and on train routes across England, Wales and Scotland.

Home Office funding was also given to Metropolitan Police, West Midlands Police and Merseyside Police to set up their own County Lines teams.

Combined the forces have carried out 657 arrests since November – BTP accounts for 276 of those arrests.

The force has also seized £63,000 in drugs, £108,000 in cash, and removed 38 weapons from the rail network.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “I am determined to roll up county lines drugs gangs and stop them from terrorising our towns and exploiting our children.

“I have seen first-hand the important work the police are doing to tackle county lines, and these impressive results show just how much of an impact our investment is having.

“The police will always have my backing in tackling this threat and, crucially, protecting victims.”

County Lines drug dealing is the movement of drugs by gangs from cities into smaller towns – they often exploit and intimidate children or vulnerable adults into couriering the drugs, or cash it generates, between locations.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams, the BTP Taskforce lead, said: “Our Taskforce is in a unique position. We carry out operations nationally across England, Wales and Scotland and have built a strong understanding of how this issue is impacting communities.

“These operations have also helped us determine that younger people, when compared to other forces, are exploited on the railway network. A large portion of our arrests are under the age of 18 and more than half are under 24 years of age.

“The main aims of this Taskforce are to safeguard these young people, pull them away from crime, and remove this type of criminal activity away from the railway network.

“The help of the railway industry here has been absolutely invaluable. 

“As we operate they’ve been training their staff to spot signs of exploitation and the intelligence they have provided has been used to inform where we target next.”