Dramatic moment cops smash ruthless county lines gang forcing kids to smuggle fatal amounts of drugs in their bodies

The Irish Sun

16-05-2025

TREMBLING in the back of a police car, a terrified 15-year-old boy begs for help from the officer driving.
He has just revealed that ruthless drug dealers had forced him to hide 121 wraps of crack cocaine and heroin by inserting them into his body.
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Lancashire Police launched a dawn raid to smash a gang of county line drug dealers
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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Cops arrested one of the suspects from a semi-detached property on a well-manicured road in Blackburn
Credit: West Yorkshire Police
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At 6.30am the four-man team from East Lancs banged on the door with cries of 'Police, open the door'
Credit: West Yorkshire Police
If the packaging on the bags had burst he would have died.
He was picked up after being in an uninsured car alongside an older teen, who had already been dropped off, and was being taken back to the care home where he lived.
Before being stopped by police in Bradford, he was en route to East Lancashire, where the drugs would have been sold.
The teenager was being forced to work for the Max county line drug- trafficking network, which runs between Yorkshire and Lancashire — the counties that fought the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century.
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Fortunately, after a painstaking police operation, within weeks of his plea for help, the county lines operation that had ensnared him had been dealt a potentially fatal blow.
Lancashire Police, with the help of West Yorkshire Police, stormed into five properties simultaneously to arrest key players of an organised crime gang, suspected of running the line.
More than 50 cops across Bradford and Blackburn arrested five men, who were all charged yesterday with supplying a controlled drug.
The Sun was with Lancashire Police as they arrested one of the suspects from a semi-detached property on a well-manicured road in Blackburn on Thursday.
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At 6.30am the four-man team from East Lancs banged on the door with cries of 'Police, open the door'.
Curtains immediately twitched, but it was five minutes until the door opened.
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Within seconds, the officers were inside, and shortly afterwards marched out their suspect in handcuffs as his parents looked on.
The home was searched, and the team found several phones inside.
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The man arrested was believed to be one of the gang's logistic experts who ensure smooth movement of kids and drugs.
Detective Sergeant Stu Peall, who led the operation, told The Sun: 'The chap arrested in Blackburn is believed to be involved in the logistics of moving the people and drugs from Bradford into Lancashire.
'He made sure the car is insured, that it has someone with a valid
driving
licence driving, because the last thing the line wants is to lose product to the police because they've not sorted the transport properly.
'For county lines, transport is key.'
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Police forces work together to share intelligence to shut down the county lines gangs
The force's East Exploitation Team used phone data to track the source of the drugs and identify all five men who were arrested on Thursday morning.
They are accused of dealing crack cocaine and heroin in and around down-at-heel Blackburn and
Burnley
— which has a needle exchange so users can have safer injections.
Drugs and teenagers were moved separately between counties, with the car journey taking about an hour, and the train just 44 minutes.
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This is the latest phase of Operation Warrior, which has seen Lancashire Police seize 616kg of cocaine, heroin and cannabis, alongside £4.3million of assets from crooks.
DS Peall's team alone have secured 1,000 years of imprisonment over the last seven years.
The people in charge of the Max line tried to avoid detection by keeping the drugs line phone in Bradford, across the border in West Yorks, but only dealing in East Lancashire.
DS Peall explained: 'If you base a line [the phone] in one county, and deal in a different county, the intelligence flow becomes more difficult.
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'It means the force that holds the drugs line won't know about it because the dealing doesn't take place there. Their informers will only know about stuff that is happening in that county, so it takes time to put all the pieces together.
'West Yorkshire Police have been fantastic working with us to get this line taken out, despite the best attempts of the criminals to hide it.'
A county line running from Bradford isn't an uncommon find for the police, although they also get them from Greater Manchester and Merseyside as well.
Bradford has become a hotbed for running county lines across the country, as far away as Exeter in Devon, and Edinburgh, as our graphic shows.
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Ds Peall said: 'The grim reality of county lines is that they exploit children and young people for their own gain.
'It's beyond horrible that the teenagers, and in this instance children, are told to insert drugs packages into themselves.
'The young lad who lived in a care home in Leeds was forced to put drugs in himself, and that is the cruel reality of what it means to take drugs across county lines.
'We also found a teenager from Bradford at an address in Bacup, in East Lancashire, with a woman he had no connection to.
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'They claimed to be relatives, but it didn't add up, and we found that he was a vulnerable teenager from Bradford. He was then stopped in possession of Class A drugs a few weeks later.'
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DS Stu Peall, who led the arrests, and his team have secured 1,000 years of imprisonment over the last seven years
Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Many of the teenagers exploited by gangs are told to hide their drugs inside themselves to avoid detection when travelling, risking death if the packages burst.
Bolton GP Dr Helen Wall said: 'It is incredibly dangerous and can be quickly fatal.
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'If a packet leaks or ruptures, rapid absorption of cocaine or heroin through the rectal lining can occur. This can lead to drug overdose, which is life-threatening.
'Secondary to this, the sharp edges of some wrapping materials like plastic or foil can cause tears or abrasions. Anything inserted like this can introduce bacteria, leading to local infections, or in the worst cases, sepsis.'
The teenagers face other dangers too, such as conflict with local rivals. DS Peall said: 'Often young boys aged 15 to 18 are running the drugs and being put into other gangs' patches.
'There will be friction with the local drug dealers in East Lancashire at these teenagers moving into their territory and disrupting their lines within the county.
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'It causes a lot of violence between different groups, and these kids are being exploited and put in danger in all sorts of ways.'
Lancashire Police focus on safeguarding the children who have been coerced into county lines and work on helping them to rebuild a life away from criminality.
DS Peall said: 'The last thing we want is to put a vulnerable kid through the court system.'
He has a message for anyone who is caught up in the illegal trade.
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He said: 'If you are being forced into running drugs, speak to your family. Open up about it and then come to the police.
'We can help. We can support you. You're being exploited, even if you don't think that is the case.'
Rachel Seabrook, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at The Children's Society charity, said: 'Children from all backgrounds, some barely out of primary school, are being groomed and forced into the dangerous world of county lines by ruthless criminals.
'Once trapped, they face horrifying threats of violence, humiliation, or even criminal charges against themselves or their families.
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'The trauma from this brutal exploitation can devastate young lives, causing lasting damage to their mental
health
, ruining friendships and destroying relationships.
'These children are not criminals, they're victims who have been robbed of their childhood and freedom.'
But the police are determined to tackle the gangs behind the childhood exploitation.
Having disrupted multiple county lines, DS Peall issued a warning to drugs gangs plotting to get a foothold in East Lancashire.
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He said: 'It won't work. As long as there are teams like mine, you won't get away with it.'
Lancashire Police stats
April 24 and March 25:
More than 2,200 arrests
£4.3million pounds of assets seized.
616kg of cocaine, heroin and cannabis recovered
522 years in prison for offenders
508 vulnerable adults and children safeguarded