Cumbria has dismantled all county lines drug gangs, police say

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 14 Oct, 06:58 · Archive

Cumbria Police has dismantled county lines drug networks that once operated across the region, the county's crime commissioner says.

No county lines drugs gangs are currently operating in Cumbria, the county's police, fire and crime commissioner David Allen has pledged. Cumbria Police has recently dismantled the drug networks that had operated across the region, though action continues to address local dealers and prevent the gangs from returning.

In recent years, multiple gangs based in Manchester and Liverpool were operating out of Barrow and wider Cumbria including Kendal and Carlisle. County lines is a term for gangs that move drugs across police and council boundaries and sell them elsewhere. The practice regularly involves gangs exploiting children and vulnerable people, such as drug users and those with mental health issues, to transport the drugs, as well as taking over vulnerable people's homes for criminal activity, known as 'cuckooing'.

Barrow was particularly affected. Mr Allen said: 'Barrow in particular had a fair bit of a problem a few years ago. The constabulary took a concerted effort to tackle it from a number of fronts using intelligence and a lot of enforcement.'

Police have adopted what Mr Allen described as a 'slightly different approach' involving a service called 1CLIC, short for County Lines Informed Cumbria. Police are embedded in addiction service The Well, using its resources to help those at risk of exploitation or involved in county lines, whilst also gathering intelligence about the crime. Mr Allen said this had contributed to the eradication of county lines in the area.

How it is being reported

• No county lines drugs gangs are currently operating in Cumbria, says police tsarCumbria Police has recently dismantled some of the county line drug networks which operate in the region.NW Evening Mail · 14 Oct, 06:00
• No county lines drugs gangs are currently operating in Cumbria, says police tsarCumbria Police has recently dismantled some of the county line drug networks which operate in the region.Westmorland Gazette · 14 Oct, 06:00
• No county lines drugs gangs are currently operating in Cumbria, says police tsarCumbria Police has recently dismantled some of the county line drug networks which operate in the region.Cumberland News · 14 Oct, 06:00

In this story: Cumbria Police · David Allen · Cumbria · Barrow · Kendal · Carlisle · Manchester · Liverpool

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