Police launched a crackdown on a Liverpool drugs firm "using violence" to drive out local dealers in a seaside town.
Officers from Merseyside Police and Lancashire Police combined in a joint operation this week in a series of raids in the Morecambe area. Operation Medusa targeted a Merseyside organised crime group flooding the town with drugs, using a 'county lines' model.
According to a Lancashire Police spokeswoman: "The operation followed intelligence suggesting drugs gangs from Liverpool were expanding their operations into the town, using violence to drive out local dealers and exploiting children and vulnerable people to sell drugs – also known as County Lines."
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Plain-clothed police officers on foot patrol targeted addresses in the West End area, seizing cash, mobile phones and suspected Class A drugs. As well as making a number of arrests, officers searched 13 people and made six vehicle searches.
Ten men, aged between 18 and 52, were arrested in the raids on Wednesday, and have been questioned on suspicion of drugs supply offences.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith, of Lancashire Police, said: “We want to hit criminals hard but also make sure young and vulnerable people who have been criminally exploited are treated sensitively and with understanding.
"Working cross border with other police forces is key in disrupting and dismantling county lines and putting offenders behind bars. We are sending out a strong message this criminality activity will not be tolerated and we will continue to work together with our partners and regional forces to disrupt anyone involved in county lines and bring them to justice.
"County lines gangs and organised criminal networks are involved in exporting illegal drugs, using dedicated mobile phone lines or another form of ‘deal line’. The gang activity is highly associated with violence, drug dealing and exploitation; having a devastating impact on young people, vulnerable adults and local communities.
"Gangs will use children, and vulnerable people, to move drugs and money, criminally exploiting them; they will also seek to establish a base in target locations, typically taking over the homes of local vulnerable adults by force or coercion – this is referred to as ‘cuckooing’.
"We need intelligence coming from our communities to alert us to potential drugs activity so we can investigate and bring organised gangs to justice, as well as safeguarding people, particularly children, who have been exploited and are victims."
More information on criminal exploitation is available here.
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