West Yorkshire Police has launched a week of action to tackle so-called ‘county lines’ crime.
The force said ‘county lines’ crime involves criminal networks involved in bringing in illegal drugs into one or more areas using dedicated mobile phone lines.
The criminals will often use and exploit young children and vulnerable adults to commit the crime and will use violence and weapons to get what they want.
It cuts across many different types of crime including child sexual exploitation, drug dealing, violence, gangs, modern slavery and missing people.
West Yorkshire Police is joining partners in a week of action across West Yorkshire to crack down on the criminal activity from Monday 8 October until Sunday 14 October.
Detective Chief Inspector Carl Galvin is the Director of Intelligence for West Yorkshire Police and is leading the operation: “‘County Lines’ crime is something we take very seriously. It is a relatively new term to describe drug dealing activity whereby drugs are supplied across cities and counties often using vulnerable and exploited victims.
“It is a crime that can directly impact on the communities we serve and in particular vulnerable and exploited victims who are being forced or coerced into doing the ‘dirty work’ of others.
“This is not something that we will tolerate - we know about it and have been taking action to tackle it. Much of this action is ‘behind the scenes’ so not immediately visible to members of the public or the criminals we are targeting.
“The main purpose of this week of action is to reassure the communities we serve that action is being taken and at the same time safeguard and protect those who are exploited by those involved in these crimes and to let the criminals who choose to get themselves involved in county lines crime know that we will robustly enforce the law and bring them to justice.”
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