Hampshire Police and Dorset Police help protect vulnerable children and adults in counties crackdown

Nearly 50 arrests were made in Hampshire and Dorset during a week-long initiative to disrupt the counties’ drug operations.

Over £ 60,000 worth of drugs have been recovered, as have stolen bikes worth over £ 12,000 and at least 10 guns.

County lines describe organized criminal networks involved in the export of illegal drugs from large towns to small towns using dedicated mobile phone lines.

They exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store drugs and money, and often use coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons.

The operations were carried out across the country by forces, alongside the British Transport Police, with Operation Hampshire involving sites in the New Forest as well as Southampton, Portsmouth and Basingstoke.

In Hampshire, officers seized £ 4,140 of heroin, £ 50,000 of cannabis, £ 7,380 in cash, 25 MDMA pills, seven knives, a scissor blade, a catapult and a knuckleduster, and 38 cell phones.

Dorset said it recovered £ 7,100 in cash from suspected dealers and around 146g of suspected crack and 90g of suspected heroin which, if proven genuine, could have a combined value of £ 23,600.

Hampshire Det. Sgt Nick Plummer said: “County borders and local drug rings cause misery for vulnerable young people and our communities, and it is only right that we continue to make significant efforts to identify those involved. in sourcing and operating for their own profit. “

DS Andy Dilworth, Dorset Police County Lines Manager, added: “I am delighted with the success we have had this week; our streets are safer as a direct result of the disruption activity we have been carrying out.”