Confirmation that the government is to spend £20m on tackling county lines drug networks, including recruiting more specialist caseworkers to deal with victims groomed into gangs, is good news for areas like Warrington South.
County lines involves gangs in cities such as Manchester and Liverpool using children as young as 11 to deal mostly heroin and crack cocaine over a network of dedicated mobile phones. The County Lines gangs have pushed out of cities and into more rural areas like Warrington.
In her speech to the Conservative party conference last week, Home Secretary Priti Patel said extra cash would stop gangs “terrorising our towns and villages and exploiting our children”. Our location, midway between two big cities and with excellent road and rail networks means that areas like Stockton Heath, Lymm, Penketh and Appleton are easy targets for County Lines, something Cheshire Police have been highlighting in their recent campaign on social media to raise awareness.
Taking out criminals who prey on youngsters to distribute drugs has to be a priority, these are organised gangs who are quite happy to prey on children in any part of Warrington with the aim of making fast money. At the same time we need a joined up effort to protect children; the police, schools, councils and families, we all have a role to play.
Cheshire Police have been doing some great work, using targeted campaigns to highlight County lines Issues to youngsters. The use of drugs has become more prevalent in wider society and we need to focus on education at an early age, showing the many dangers of addiction.
The work we’ve seen from the National Organised Crime Agency in recent days, with arrests in Warrington as part of a wider operation, shows how this is being tackled at every level.
