Inside dawn raid with police as they target county lines gang boss

Times

18 hours ago

Six unmarked police cars weave through London at dawn, racing to a luxury penthouse in Canary Wharf.
Thirty minutes earlier, I had joined officers from the Metropolitan Police's Operation Orochi task force as they were briefed on their mission: to arrest the suspected leader of a county lines gang that had been trafficking cocaine and cannabis in and out of Portsmouth for the past four years.
As I sat in the police van at the back of the convoy, I was joined by Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, the head of the National County Lines Coordination Centre.
He tells me gangs are updating their techniques to evade detection and drug lines are increasingly using encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp to build their customer base.
'We used to smash through people's front doors and they would rush to the bathroom to try and flush the drugs down the toilet as that's how we proved they were a drug dealer,' Mitchell said as we approach the flashy entrance of one of the tallest residential buildings in Europe.
'Now, they will try to smash their phone and damage their Sim card. That is the first thing they reach for as they know we are looking for digital devices — that's how we prove they are a drug dealer.'
The raid on the suspected drug leader's penthouse last Thursday was part of a wider Metropolitan Police crackdown on organised crime. In the last week of June, officers shut down more than 100 county lines and arrested 301 people — 111 have been charged.
County lines is the name given to drug dealing when gangs coerce carriers — often children and vulnerable people — to transport illegal drugs across police and local authority boundaries.
Historically, the lines have mainly emanated from London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester. Children's homes are used by gangs in a practice known as 'cuckooing'.
As about 15 police officers squeeze into the lifts, Mitchell explains that county lines gangs are the most violent model of drug supply and they are often highly exploitative of children. 'This operation is based in Canary Wharf but at the point of sale in Portsmouth, children as young as 16 will be the ones holding the weapons and being put in a risky position,' he said.
'We pursue the line holders further up the chain but it is a constant battle as the reason criminal gangs tie up children in debt bondage is because it makes the business more profitable. Someone offers a child a free PlayStation or new trainers and then, before they know it, they are trying to sell cannabis and have become entangled in debt bondage.'
Creeping up to the door of the penthouse suite, as simultaneous raids began in Portsmouth, the green light was given to smash through — revealing a panoramic view of the O2 Arena and the London docklands from the balcony.
The suspect was arrested and class A and B drugs, two Mercedes-Benz car keys, more than £5,000 worth of cash and several designer watches were found in the bedroom. Co-ordinated raids led to the arrest of two more suspects in Portsmouth and one at Gatwick airport.
Wider raids across London led to the seizure of 12 firearms, 78 dangerous weapons, such as zombie knives and samurai swords, nearly 70kg of class A drugs and more than £600,000 in cash.
As Mitchell finished taking in the view from the balcony, he reiterated that phones were among the most valuable seizures. In the past, gangs relied on burner phones to send marketing messages and arrange deals but there had been a shift from that means of communication, he said.
• One gram of ketamine and its 4,000-mile journey to the UK
'You no longer have throwaway phones sending out old-fashioned messages as gangs are using encrypted apps and social media,' he said. 'We want to get hold of the device, interrogate it and see if we can gather evidence. You might have an encrypted app but if you are caught with it we can build the case against you.'
The use of encrypted apps to sell drugs was a response from the gangs to their changing customer base, he added. With the Taliban limiting how much heroin comes out of Afghanistan, gangs were increasingly selling synthetic opioids and prescription medicines such as pregabalin and ketamine.
'If you are buying ketamine, you are more likely to have a smartphone and buy through an app,' he said. 'Whereas if you are a hardened drug user addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, you are more likely to steal, commit burglary and theft to make a bit of money to live.'
In the nine months to March, the county lines task forces — which primarily operate within the Metropolitan, Merseyside, West Midlands and Greater Manchester forces — closed 1,225 lines and charged 808 line holders.
The swish penthouses and expensive phones behind the UK's county lines are firmly in police crosshairs.