A record number of gang leaders have been charged for ‘county lines’ offences in the past year following targeted police action through the government’s County Lines Programme.
More than 1,120 senior gang members have been charged and over 2,300 ‘deal lines’ closed in the 12 months since July 2024, due to targeted policing of key transport networks and investment in automatic number plate recognition technology.
This period has seen the highest annual numbers since the government’s County Lines Programme began in 2019.
Stabbings in areas most impacted by county lines have also reduced by almost 20% because of the programme, according to a recent independent report by the London School of Economics.
Tackling this kind of drug supply and criminal exploitation is fundamental to the government’s mission to halve knife crime over the next decade as part of the Plan for Change.
And on Tuesday 7 October, Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones joined policing operations that saw a 29-year-old man from Kirkby arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and heroin. He was taken into police custody.
Crime and policing minister, Sarah Jones, said:
The exploitation of children and vulnerable people in this way is disgusting and cowardly. County lines gangs are also driving knife crime in our communities, and I want criminals to know that we will not let them get away with it.
We will be relentless in going after these gangs. Today’s results speak for themselves – but we are going further than ever to stop this evil trade as part of our Plan for Change, and will be bringing in 3 new criminal offences to ensure the punishment matches the severity of the crime.
In addition to charging and closing record numbers of deal lines, the County Lines Programme has referred over 3,200 children and vulnerable people to supportive services and provided more than 500 instances of specialist, dedicated, one-to-one support through Catch22’s county lines service since last summer.
The government has already announced that 3 new offences will be brought in as part of the Crime and Policing Bill to build on the progress to date and tackle criminal exploitation of children in all its forms:
Criminal exploitation of children: this will seek to increase convictions against exploiters, deter gangs from enlisting children, and improve identification of criminally exploited children. It will also provide the police with an additional tool to tackle this kind of offending which reflects more specifically the harm done to child victims, and recognises offenders more clearly as exploiters of children. This offence will carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Coerced internal concealment: this act sees children and vulnerable people criminally exploited by gangs and forced into hiding objects in their bodies. This practice is often linked to county lines drug running and will also carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Cuckooing: which involves the takeover of the homes of vulnerable people, often those with disabilities, for criminal purposes. This will carry a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison.
Kate Wareham, Strategic Director at Catch22, who deliver the National County Lines and Support and Rescue Service, said:
We welcome the government’s continued commitment to tackling county lines, which is making a real difference in reducing harm and keeping young people safe – but there is still much more to do to ensure every child is protected from exploitation.
County lines exploitation can have devastating consequences for young people and communities and is often a driving factor behind serious violence and knife crime. Through the County Lines Support and Rescue Service, we work closely with the police, local authorities and community partners to identify and support children who have been drawn into these criminal networks – some as young as 10 and often found far from home. By building trusted relationships and providing long-term, wraparound support, we help young people to break free from exploitation and rebuild their lives.
Sue Gregory, CEO of Everton in the Community, said:
County lines has affected far too many people in Merseyside through the years and we welcome the government’s continued action in this area. Everton in the Community is committed to tackling the issue through its Children and Youth targeted services to prevent young people becoming involved in county lines and educating them about the risks and where to access support.
Working alongside the government and other key partners like Merseyside Police, Premier League and Steve Morgan Foundation, Everton in the Community provides diversionary tactics and key engagement and enrichment opportunities which enables our city’s young people to aspire to more positive futures and achieve pathways they may have previously thought were out of reach.
The government is investing more than £43m this year in the County Lines Programme, to target the exploitative drug-dealing gangs whilst breaking up the organised crime groups behind this trade. Operating across the 5 force areas with the highest activity as well as British Transport Police, dedicated police teams work alongside Catch22 and organisations like Everton Football Club ‘In the Community’, who raise awareness on county lines and provide specialist support to vulnerable young people who are being criminally exploited.
