Two-day operation sees more than 30 arrests in county lines crackdown

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Merseyside Police’s Project Medusa team have deployed to North Yorkshire to disrupt county lines drug dealing and safeguard vulnerable people.

The targeted operation focused on York on Wednesday 10 January and Selby on Thursday 11 January. In total 32 people were arrested, and a large quantity of Class A and B drugs were seized as well as several vehicles and dangerous weapons. Three of the 32 that were arrested were wanted on warrant.

More than 100 police officers and staff from both North Yorkshire Police and Merseyside Police worked on the two-day operation from a variety of departments which include intelligence teams, proactive disruption, police dogs and drones as well as local policing and specialist roads policing officers.

Officers from the British Transport Police (BTP) also supported the operation with high visibility and plain clothed patrols at transport hubs. 

Warrants were executed at various addresses and increased plain clothed and uniformed patrols were used to intercept drug deals on the streets. A specialist strike team used intelligence-led Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to intercept vehicles on the road network which are linked to drugs.

The York Rescue Boat also supported the operation by providing additional river safety patrols on the River Ouse.

Several proactive safeguarding and welfare checks were conducted on people who are known or suspected as being vulnerable to County Lines exploitation.

Project Medusa, funded by the Home Office, is a Merseyside initiative to tackle county lines drug dealing and the criminal exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults.

Since 2019, Merseyside’s Project Medusa officers – who are recognised nationally as a leading force in tackling county lines – have closed more than 1,100 county lines; arrested more than 2,400 people for offences including drug supply, firearms and money laundering; and identified 1,250 children and vulnerable adults who have been referred to safeguarding services.

North Yorkshire Police secured additional funding and used its specialist teams to drive the initiative to ensure that it’s communities in York and Selby remain hostile places for any would-be criminals to operate in.   

From the two days in North Yorkshire, results include:

• Officers identified a man and a woman on Kingsway in York who are linked to drugs supply. Officers stopped the pair and found a quantity of suspected Class A drugs. A 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug. She was interviewed and released under investigation.
• A 43-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug, possession of a Class A and Class C drug and possession of a weapon and theft. He was interviewed and released under investigation.
• Officers searched the home address of the 42-year-old man and a 24-year-old man at the address was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug. He was interviewed and released on conditional bail which prevents him from entering North Yorkshire.
• A warrant was executed at an address on in Brotherton near Selby. Numerous items which are linked to the supply of drugs were located. A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, possession of criminal property and an offensive weapon as well as criminal damage. He was interviewed and released under investigation.
• A 33-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, possession of criminal property and an offensive weapon. She was also released under investigation.
• Plain clothed officers in Selby sighted a man who was discarding an object in a canal. A specialist police dog and a police underwater search unit searched the area and recovered a weapon which is believed to be used in crime. A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. A 35-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm and possession with intent to supply a Class B drug. They both currently remain in police custody.

Inspector Stephen Morris, from Merseyside Police said: “Project Medusa, funded by the Home Office, is the Merseyside-led initiative to tackle county lines drug dealing and the criminal exploitation of young people and vulnerable adults.

“We regularly deploy to other force areas to target county lines drug dealing, and this operation with North Yorkshire shows the results that can be achieved when working jointly to target those involved in this type of criminality.

“The arrests and seizures made during this operation should act as a stark warning to county lines offenders – you will be caught and be put before the courts. We are working harder than ever to crackdown on county lines, which brings misery to communities in the form of drug dealing, violence but also the exploitation of young, often vulnerable children and adults who are coerced and manipulated in to dealing drugs for organised crime gangs.

“We are committed to working across borders to relentlessly pursue those involved in the supply of drugs and criminal exploitation. My message to those involved in county lines is clear – we have a zero-tolerance approach to serious organised crime, and we are relentless in our pursuit of those involved.”

Detective Chief Inspector Carol Kirk from North Yorkshire Police said: “Project Medusa is one of the largest operations that North Yorkshire Police has ever seen. It’s firmly had our approach of protecting communities and safeguarding the vulnerable at its heart.

“At the start of the new year these results are extremely positive and will go a long way to improve the quality of life for people in our communities.

“But this is two days of activity, and we won’t stop here. We will continue our relentless pursuit to protect our communities from harm and ensure that North Yorkshire remains one of the safest places to live.”

Merseyside Police’s ‘Silence is Not an Option’ campaign focuses on changing attitudes towards reporting gang-related activity and increasing intelligence reports to Crimestoppers anonymously to report serious and organised crime in Merseyside. For more information, please visit: Give information 100% anonymously about organised crime in Merseyside | Crimestoppers (crimestoppers-uk.org)

If you are a young person who is worried about being involved in county lines, or knows someone who is, you can speak to an adult and let them know how you feel. You can contact www.fearless.org who allow you to pass on information about crime anonymously, or Childline on 0800 1111. They are a private and confidential service where you can talk to counsellors about anything that is worrying you.