Two Leeds men arrested for 'county lines' drug dealing

Two Leeds men have been arrested for 'county lines' drug dealing.
Two Leeds men were arrested in Leeds for county lines drug dealing. Pictured is county lines raids in Bradford earlier this month.Two Leeds men were arrested in Leeds for county lines drug dealing. Pictured is county lines raids in Bradford earlier this month.
Two Leeds men were arrested in Leeds for county lines drug dealing. Pictured is county lines raids in Bradford earlier this month.

They were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs on Tuesday, February 25.

Two other men were also arrested in Manchester as part of the same operation.

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Large amounts of drugs and cash were recovered during the arrests.

All four men remain in custody.

The term ‘county lines’ refers to organised criminals groups in urban areas expanding their drug dealing operations to suburban areas and across county borders into market and coastal towns.

It generally involves the criminal exploitation of children and vulnerable people.

These people are often exploited into moving and storing drugs and money along the supply chain, which is run through a network of dedicated phone lines.

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Detective Inspector Phil Jackson, of the Leeds District Precision Team, said: “The arrest phase executed today alongside our colleagues from other forces has been the culmination of many months of painstaking work by specialist officers to identify those we suspect of being involved in these county lines drug dealing operations.

“This particular type of offending is a national problem which cuts across a number of issues from organised crime and violence to the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

“Today’s arrest operation should clearly illustrate how we are continuing to work alongside other local police forces, local authorities and voluntary and community organisations to target all aspects of this type of crime.

“County lines dealing is something we are continuing to take very seriously given the wide scale risks and harms it presents to our communities, and the public have a key role to play in alerting us to anything suspicious that could assist our work.

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“It might be an increase in comings and goings at a particular property or a concerning change in the behaviour of young person or vulnerable resident.

"People should let us know anything that concerns them in that way as it might form part of the wider intelligence picture that we are already building up.

“County lines dealing is often a complex and challenging form of criminality that we can only effectively tackle by working closely in partnership.

"We hope today’s operation will send a suitable deterrent message to those involved in this type of crime and also serve to reassure our communities that this is an issue we are continuing to address.”