By Further county-line drug arrests in Swindon
We previously announced that arrests had been made Swindon for county-lines drug offences; we can now report that four further people have now been arrested.
The same four have now been charged following a week of action to tackle county lines.
‘Operation Samphire’ ran in January and saw officers cracking down on drugs gangs in Swindon.
A total of 61 people were arrested during the operation.
Last night, Wiltshire Police charged Blair Egerton, 32, of Manor Crescent, Moredon, with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.
The following individuals were also charged:
Sarah Scott, 34, of Ramsbury Avenue, Penhill, charged with nine counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs
Katie Donnelly, 37, of no fixed address, Swindon, charged with two counts of class A drug supply
Kyle Ricketts, 20, of Jenni Manners Court, Westlea, charged with supply of class A drugs.
These charges take the total number of people charged in relation to Operation Samphire to nine.
All are due to appear at Swindon Magistrates Court on the 18th of March.
This also follows the arrest of children who had been trafficked into county-lines drug gangs in Portsmouth.
According to The National Crime Agency, county lines dealers often recruit young runners to deal on the streets. Gang leaders are not based in the area and entice local youngsters either using cash or by force and the threat of violence. A statement issued by the NCA said:
“A common feature in county lines drug supply is the exploitation of young and vulnerable people. The dealers will frequently target children and adults – often with mental health or addiction problems – to act as drug runners or move cash so they can stay under the radar of law enforcement.”
“As we have seen in child sexual exploitation, children often don’t see themselves as victims or realise they have been groomed to get involved in criminality. So it’s important that we all play our part to understand county lines and speak out if we have concerns.”
Dozens of other people have been arrested across the UK in raids on county lines drug gangs.
If you have concerns about drug-related crime in your area, please contact the police on 101.
Contact Gi Swindon
Email us: news@gi-media.co.uk
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