Series of drug raids across Middlesbrough nets 30 suspects

The week-long operation targeting a number of organised crime groups was carried out as part of a nationwide campaign to tackle the growing problem and found children as young as 11 and 12 working for the gangs.

Months of preparation went into planning the raids as the force looks to protect vulnerable people from following into the grasp of drug dealers.

A number of properties were raided at addresses around Middlesbrough town centre as well as further afield as the force carried out five phases of the operation.

Suspect being arrested in Middlesbrough (Image: The Northern Echo)

Detective Superintendent John Bent, the force’s head of crime, said tackling the problems associated with county lines gangs is just the start as officers work closely with other organisations to come up with a strategy to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Read more: Drugs, cash and weapons seized during early morning raids across the North East

He said: “There has been a lot of children safeguarding on this job and that is quite prevalent in the area, this is the second big job we have done this year and it is a similar story.

“There are a lot of teenage kids getting involved – it could be because they see it as glamorous because they have nothing in their lives but the sad fact is that we operate in a deprived area and there are a lot of kids who don’t have much to look forward to in life and that just makes them and easy target.”

The senior officer believes that working with other partner agencies is key to solving the growing problem but accepts that networks permeate across the UK.

Detective Superintendent John Bent (Image: The Northern Echo)

“The operation has been successful, resulting in around 30 arrests so far,” he said. “Even before the operation started, we arrested people at an early stage because we had to intervene due to safeguarding issues.

“We felt it wasn’t appropriate to wait for this arrest phase, so got those people arrested and brought from prison for interview as part of the conspiracy to sell drugs.”

Drugs and mobile phones recovered during the raids have been sent away to be analysed to estimate the scale of the problem.

He said: “We know we have corridors of crime that link us to Merseyside and other major cities – the drug supply and criminality is a well joined up network.”

Read next:

• What are county lines? The drug networks exploiting vulnerable people across the North East
• Children as young as 3 safeguarded after drugs raids across Darlington and County Durham
• Arrests made across North Yorkshire as police launch drugs crackdown