Latest news with #CountyLines
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
County lines gangs train youngsters to steal phones instead of running drugs due to booming £70million market and softer sentences if they are caught
County lines gangs have turned to snatching phones instead of dealing drugs to feed a growing £70m a year epidemic. Gang members are grooming vulnerable young people to steal mobiles on Britain's streets due to unprecedented overseas demand and softer sentences for those who are caught. Stolen phones are being shipped abroad in bulk and sold around the world, a police chief warned, with some 80 per cent of the 80,000 phones stolen every year in London ending up overseas. A Mail investigation today tracks a phone stolen from an estate agent on the capital's famous Baker Street across the globe to a high-rise block in Hong Kong, where it sat alongside hundreds of thousands of other handsets. And a police chief in charge suggested the likes of Apple and Google had the gift to stop the trade by making a phone worthless after being taken. At least 230 phones were stolen every day on average in the UK last year - twice as many as five years ago and rising all the time. London is the epicentre, making up roughly 75 per cent of phone thefts, but it is clear the problem is nationwide, with every major force recording thousands of stolen phones every year. Even rural areas, such as Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire, cannot escape the problem. For top models, thieves can make up to £400 per phone they snatch, while sentences for theft, robbery and handling stolen goods are far more lenient than for dealing drugs. Phone thefts are estimated to cost Brits at least £67million a year. Commander James Conway, Scotland Yard's top officer on phone thefts, told the Mail: 'These are the same sort of gangs that are also running county lines operations and dealing [drugs] but are getting increasingly involved in robbery and theft. 'They can make a far greater profit than from dealing drugs in the same period of time with a lower risk from a criminal justice perspective. 'The sort of sentences you see for drug trafficking or drug dealing offences, and those you might receive for a series of thefts as a young person are very different.' Gang leaders use tried and tested methods to exploit young footsoldiers into snatching phones in the capital, often using specially adapted e-bikes which can reach speeds of up to 70mph. 'Either they're showering them with gifts of expensive trainers or clothing to draw them into a gang lifestyle, or they're giving them gifts to saddle them with a debt, which that young person then has to repay into the criminal gang. That's long been a methodology of recruitment used by those street gangs,' Mr Conway said. The devices are then given to a handler, who packages the phones to be exported to an international hub where they are often sold in bulk into emerging countries. 'The UK border is designed to stop dangerous things like guns and drugs coming into the country but in this instance it is the complete opposite - we have a criminal commodity moving out of the country,' the top officer added. Location data shows just under a third of phones stolen in the capital are sent to Algeria, while 20 per cent end up in China and a further seven per cent in Hong Kong. The Mail visited a business district in Hong Kong and saw commercial units containing hundreds of thousands of phones imported from around the world, some of which had come from Britain. One such address, on Hung To Road, had been the last location of an iPhone 11 Pro stolen from estate agent Dylan James, 41, on London's iconic Baker Street – the home of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. 'Just ten days after my phone was snatched in London by a man on an e-bike it was pinging from this commercial district in Hong Kong,' said Mr James. 'It is truly incredible.' The surge in thefts has been driven by the overseas demand closing a 'profitability gap' in the market, Mr Conway explained. 'In the noughties, gangs stepped back from this area because in the UK we severed that link between a stolen phone and services – so you couldn't really use a stolen device in the same way,' he said. 'But they can be used in other markets, so there's now this huge profitability in robbery again.' Police forces have had some success in combatting the surge in thefts, but are calling on firms - such as cloud providers Apple and Google - to install a 'kill switch' that would effectively render phones useless when reported stolen. It is argued this could cut demand overnight as the phone would hold zero value, unless it was stripped for parts which is more time consuming and less lucrative. Mr Conway said: 'We've offered the suggestion that if police provide the IMEI number for a phone [a 15-digit code unique to every handset] to a tech company and they sever the link between that device and cloud access, then it wouldn't operate as a smartphone any more and would have next to zero value in that market.' Apple said it had been 'working on this more than the last decade' and had made 'significant investments' in theft-prevention tools. A spokesman from the firm added: 'These features disrupt and discourage criminals from stealing phones in the hands of our users.' Google said it already had anti-theft features that 'help users to protect their devices before, during, and after a theft '. 'Users in locations at risk of phone theft can simply switch them on and stay protected,' the tech giant added. In London, police 'spotters' have been deployed on e-bikes, covert operations have been launched against the handlers who collect phones from thieves and the Met has been working with the Border Force to clamp down on shipping the devices overseas. 'We are looking at a 13 to 14 per cent reduction in robberies and thefts in the first three months of the year in London,' Mr Conway said. 'Which is a move in the right direction - but we can't arrest our way out of this.' One thief, Sonny Stringer, 28, stole 24 phones worth £20,000 in just one hour by driving his electric bike round the city at speeds of up to 50mph and snatching them from pedestrians. He was jailed for two years at Isleworth Crown Court last August after being snared by City of London Police. It is difficult to determine the exact scale of the epidemic on Britain's streets due to differing recording techniques and the fact that many victims of theft and robbery fail to report crimes. Data from Essex Police, for example, indicates a 55 per cent surge in phone thefts in just four years, to 1,383 last year. In Kent, police recorded 1,722 mobile phone thefts in 2024, with 1,577 in South Yorkshire, 1,467 in the Lancashire force area and 1,115 in Nottinghamshire. Forces in rural areas naturally record fewer phone snatches, with Suffolk Police recording 337 last year, 402 in Lincolnshire and just 34 in Gloucestershire. In the West Midlands, there were 4,990 phones reported stolen in 2024. In the year to November 2023, there were 7,159 phones reported stolen in Greater Manchester. A targeted operation in Liverpool involving marking phones led to a drop in thefts in the city centre from 1,360 reports in 2022/23 to 490 in 2024/25, saving an estimated £500,000 worth of property. Inspector Dan Green, of City of London Police, said even when crooks such as Stringer are caught with the devices on them only half of the phones can be reunited with their owners because it is so difficult to match them with victims. 'We will know the phone is stolen, but if we can't find the IMEI number, we can't get into the phone, it's not got a medical ID on it then we can't find out whose phone it is,' he said. 'Also, someone might have reported their phone stolen but they don't know their IMEI number so there's nothing to marry them up with their phone.'
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Rise in drug trafficking in Derbyshire, report says
Drug trafficking in Derbyshire has increased by more than 60% compared to pre-Covid levels, according to new report by the county's police and crime commissioner says the number of trafficking "occurrences" in 2024 was 1,034, compared to 636 in also said drug deaths in the county had increased by 10% over the past two years, though it did not say how many people had Police said there were a number of factors contributing to the increases, including improved recording processes. As of January this year, police had mapped eight county lines drug shut down about 36 in 2024 and "significantly weakened" 179 others, with 34 children involved in county lines report noted that Derbyshire Police was "constantly closing and mapping new lines in conjunction with the current intelligence and risk picture". Meanwhile Derby North was highlighted as the area with the most drug possession offences in 2024 with a total of had the second highest at 190 and Derbyshire Dales had the lowest number with 66. The report estimated more than 5,000 people across Derbyshire currently use heroin and crack cocaine, although most of these are also receiving added in the past 12 months there had been 1,885 admissions to Derbyshire's hospitals related to heroin and other harmful drugs, with an average cost each time of £3,000. Derbyshire Police said improvements in how crimes are recorded, officers taking a "proactive approach" to targeting drug gangs, and additional training around stop-and-search procedures could have impacted the increase seen in drug trafficking. A spokesperson told the BBC: "If officers are on the front foot and making more arrests and catching criminals, then this will be reflected in the figures."We have a team of officers dedicated to tackling issues associated with drug trafficking, including exploitation and county lines gangs." Derbyshire Police said the use of synthetic opioids was contributing to an increase in drug-related deaths. Officers have been trained to administer Naloxone, a life-saving emergency antidote to opioid overdose, to combat the of June, it had been used to treat people 20 times since May 1,300 officers have been trained to administer the drug in Derbyshire while more than 900 officers in frontline roles have volunteered to carry say that one woman received naloxone on four separate occasions after officers suspected she had taken an overdose each time she was located. The Derbyshire Police spokesperson said while drug-related deaths were increasing nationally, "significant efforts" were being made in Derbyshire to bring the number down"This includes an increase in the availability of specialist treatment and recovery supports for people with drug (and, or alcohol) problems," they said."A multi-agency local drug information system has been established to monitor risks associated with drug use and take actions to reduce risks."Police and partner agencies also have a drug and alcohol-related death multi-agency review process, which seeks to review deaths, learn lessons and inform strategy to prevent further fatalities" The report also said alcohol misuse is also a significant issue in the county with almost 12,000 people dependent on alcohol and only 2,500 receiving and crime commissioner Nicolle Ndiweni-Roberts said: "Every drug-related death is tragic and, in most cases, preventable."Partners have made progress and there has been a 9.6% increase of adults in treatment."No-one is under any illusions that there is anything other than more work to do. I will work with all the partners and agencies to ensure this delivers the progress we need to see."
The Irish Sun
15-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
Inside Europe's ‘cocaine capital' where gangsters bomb cafes & gun down CHILDREN in terrifying wave of drug violence
ONCE famous for its diamonds and cobbled charm, this picturesque port city is now better known for something far more sinister. Welcome to Europe's cocaine capital, where gangland feuds erupt in drive-by 14 Belgian customs officers search for drugs in a container at Antwerp's port Credit: AFP 14 A Belgian Malinois dog of a customs K9 unit inspects crates Credit: AFP 14 Drug gangs have turned the city into a hotbed of violence Antwerp, a North Sea city of 530,000, has become the main gateway for cocaine flooding into In 2023 alone, Belgian authorities seized a staggering 116 tons of it – more than the entire haul of the The And as No one is safe from the bloodshed, with drug-related violence reaching a record high last year, and even top government officials forced into hiding. One man who knows this terror all too well is war photographer Dr Teun Voeten, who tells The Sun how a grenade "exploded on my street [while] I was sleeping". Such attacks in certain areas of the city have become so common that a snack was even invented called "Antwerp grenades", as people were "getting a little bit used to" the explosions. Dr Voeten explains: "You have a lot of these small-time attacks in Antwerp. "We have a lot of symbolic violence - so people put a hand grenade on someone's door, they shoot at someone's house, they make self-improvised explosive devices. "But this is basically a sign or a warning of 'listen, you did something wrong, and we know where you live' or 'don't f*** with us.'" York's Hidden Crisis: County Lines, Gangs, and the Fight for the City's Youth Dr Voeten, an author of multiple books on Belgium's drug scene, says it is clear just how much cocaine is entering Antwerp solely from the kilo price. He said: "Obviously a lot of cocaine is still coming in because the kilo price has been dropping steadily. "Kilo price used to be €25,000 - right now it's dropped to €15,000 - which means there is a whole lot of cocaine flooding in which is not intercepted." The scale is jaw-dropping. According to EU drug monitors, Antwerp leads Europe in cocaine use and Dr Voeten says organised crime has become a lot more "brazen". People put a hand grenade on someone's door, they they shoot at someone's house, they make self-improvised explosive devices Teun Voeten Antwerp drug expert He added: "There have been a couple of attacks at Port Central Custom Centers, where they kept cocaine. "They came there to rob the customs, which is basically a direct confrontation with the authorities, and that was never the case. "So it's it's diversifying. It's getting more complicated. Crime is getting more brazen." 14 Tonnes of cocaine were seized by customs officers in 2022 14 Eleven-year-old girl Firdaous was tragically caught in the cross-fire of the drug gangs 14 A hitman who gunned down an Albanian national was seen on camera 14 Robert Pătrăncuş from the European Union Drugs Agency explained how the criminal methods are growing more sophisticated. He described 'pin code fraud' as one of the most common tactics previously used by traffickers in Antwerp — gaining digital access to containers via inside help. The scientific analyst told The Sun: "One of the most common modus operandi was known as pin code fraud. "Criminals had to be infiltrated in the seaport, otherwise it was not possible to commit these crimes." But he says new measures, like the Certified Pickup System, rolled out in early 2024, now require digital verification to access any cargo. "Only people that are digitally verified can actually access the container," he said. Street slaughter No incident more chillingly illustrates how Antwerp's streets have become a battleground than the tragic slaughter of schoolgirl Firdaous El J. In January 2023, the 11-year-old was killed after being caught in the crossfire of a suspected drugs feud. The previous year, an Across the Dutch border, Inside, cops discovered scalpels, claw hammers, 'It's triple-isolated. Even if you're standing next to it, you'll hear nothing,' bragged one gang member in an encrypted message shown in court. Cocaine 'recuperators' Dr Voeten said there are a "special brand of young people" that, in English, are called "recuperators". These young criminals head to the port to try to get cocaine out of the shipping containers. Drawing comparison with Holland, which Dr Voeten has dubbed "the biggest narco state in Europe" and "a paradise for crime groups," he said that sentencing recuperators is a lot stricter in Belgium. 14 A sound proofed torture chamber was discovered by authorities a few years ago Credit: Reuters 14 Torture is often used as a threat among rival gangs operating in and around Antwerp 14 Belgian police used explosive to break into a container being used as a torture chamber Dr Voeten explained: "If you do that in Holland you get a fine, but in Belgium, you're slapped with a three, four, five year prison sentence. "So they're way much more strict in Belgium." However, traffickers are adapting fast. According to Pătrăncuş, many are now shifting operations to secondary ports across Europe to avoid Antwerp's beefed-up security. Others use "drop-off systems", throwing cocaine overboard at sea before reaching port to be picked up by accomplices later. 'It's a waterbed effect,' he said. 'When you push down in one place, it pops up in another.' Belgium's deputy prime minister, Vincent Van Quickenborne, previously opened up to The Sun on the chilling impact of 'narco terrorism'. The justice minister has twice been forced into hiding with his family after kidnappers parked a car full of guns and handcuffs near his home. There's blood on the hands of the users, and on their noses Belgium's deputy prime minister Customs officer 'They had plans to kidnap me. We had to stay in a safe house for a week.' Despite record-breaking busts, customs officials are overwhelmed. 'At the moment, we are trying to burn the seized drugs as quickly as possible,' customs officer Bart Torrekens told the But with limited incinerators, piles of cocaine are literally stacking up – earning the nickname 'Cocaine-berg'. And smuggling techniques are getting even more elusive even before cocaine reaches Belgian waters. Pătrăncuş warned about chemical concealment, where cocaine is hidden in textiles or charcoal, bonded at the molecular level. He explained: 'Unless you have the information, the rapid test goes negative.' 'They install what we call a chemical lock. If we don't know how it was hidden, we don't know how to get it back.' The EUDA has tracked Latin American chemists flying into Eirope to retrieve cocaine from concealed shipments. The trend has also led to the rise of new cocaine laboratories across Europe, not just to dilute the drug, but to extract it and convert raw paste into pure powder. 'We see much more cocaine produced in Europe,' Pătrăncuş added. 'It may make more sense financially to produce the final product here.' Cracking down However, authorities are determined to fight back. In January 2024, But the cartels keep coming. 'There's no sign that a single arrest does anything to interrupt the flow of drugs,' said Mitchell Prothero, host of the podcast Gateway: Cocaine, Murder, & Dirty Money in Europe. 'There's always another cartel operation ready to step in.' Cocaine ports around the world AS well as Antwerp, several ports across the globe work as criminal gateways to major cocaine shipments. Here are some of them: Buenaventura, Colombia : Colombia's busiest Pacific port, Buenaventura, is a key origin point for cocaine shipments to the US and Europe — often controlled by criminal groups and plagued by violence and corruption. Manzanillo, Mexico : Manzanillo, Mexico's largest Pacific port, serves as a major node for cocaine trafficking and precursor chemicals. It is dominated by the infamous Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and sanctioned by the US treasury. Santos, Brazil: Santos - Latin America's busiest container port after Colón (Panama) - is a major export hub for cocaine bound for Europe and West Africa. Rotterdam, Netherlands : Europe's largest port and a key gateway for cocaine. Smugglers exploit container traffic, and Dutch customs even deploy dividing teams for underwater searches. Algeciras, Spain: Links to Latin America make Algeciras a growing cocaine entry point to Europe. Spain's ports are increasingly the locus of high-value seizures. Miami, United States: The epicenter of the US cocaine trade in the 1970s–80s, Miami (and broader Florida) still records the nation's highest cocaine seizure rates and remains a key distribution hub. Deputy PM Van Quickenborne has pledged £60million for new scanners and staff to hunt down drugs in high-risk containers. But he knows he's up against billion-euro syndicates with global tentacles. 'Experts say if we raise [the seizure rate] to 20 per cent we will be able to breach the Until then, Antwerp's partygoers and British weekenders keep the market alive. 'Britons should know their drug use isn't without consequence,' the minister said. 'There's blood on the hands of the users, and on their noses.' 14 Drugs are often hidden in innocuous packaging and even disguised as bananas Credit: Paul Edwards 14 Officers can scan lorries for drugs with hi-tech thermal cameras 14 A vehicle of the customs pictured at the Antwerp harbor Credit: AFP 14 War photographer and author of multiple books on Belgium's drug scene Dr Teun Voeten spoke to The Sun Credit: Paul Edwards
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
ITV drama axed after one series as lead actor reveals it 'didn't pull viewing figures'
An ITV drama has been axed after just one series, with the lead actor confirming it 'didn't pull viewing figures.' Out There starred Martin Clunes as Welsh farmer, Nathan, whose homestead and family life are threatened by local county lines drugs dealers. But, despite the actor's hopes for a second instalment, the series was not a hit with audiences. He told The Sun: 'We were keen on doing a second series but ITV aren't, it seems. It didn't quite pull the numbers they wanted, unfortunately.' ITV added: 'We are really proud of Out There and would like to thank Martin and the production team for delivering a brilliant series.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The broadcaster continued: 'We do always hope to see our series return and we are sorry we didn't get this drama to connect with a big enough audience to see that happen.' During the series, Out There viewers were left appalled by a 'very grim and dark' murder scene. In episode three, Nathan's son Johnny Williams (Louis Ashbourne Serkis) brutally stabbed a drug dealer to death after he tried to rape his friend. Johnny called his father Nathan to ask for his help in the cleaning up the blood-soaked murder scene - which saw him drag the body down the stairs. But the scenes were branded 'gratuitous' by disturbed viewers, who declared the programme was 'too violent and dark'. They also slammed the shoddy clean-up scenes for being 'far fetched' as they claimed the pair would most definitely be caught for their crimes. Backlash for the violent scenes saw viewers say: 'Yeah. That was awful and gratuitous. Doc Martin is suddenly seeming very appealing,'; 'Oh-oh Kenny looks an absolute horror. Not liking beginning of episode 2 of #OutThere, feeling too violent & dark for me. As the baseball bat comes out I decide *Off*,'; Someone else shared: 'Omg, he's killed him, theirs so much blood…,'; 'This has got very grim..,'; 'Proper dark this innit!?!' Meanwhile they also complained about the clean-up scenes being 'slapdash' as they said: 'They're lucky they don't live in Luton. The Bedfordshire Constabulary would be all over that slapdash clean up job. A bonfire of burnt trainers? Pah. We see it most weeks on,'; 'Surely they could not take the body out without somebody seeing them!'; '#OutThere is a little bit.... Out There,'; 'Nobody will notice a great fire and explosion,'; 'That clean up job won't fool SOCO...,'; 'This is far fetched fantasy nonsense. They've obviously never seen an episode of Silent Witness. They wouldn't have a chance of getting away with that clean up,'; 'Such a stupid far fetched series.'
The Sun
07-05-2025
- The Sun
Eleven kids rescued from clutches of sinister Scots drug mob as 100 hoods arrested
COPS seized drugs worth £4.3million and nicked 100 suspected hoods to smash an emerging underworld network, we can reveal. Detectives rescued kids who had been groomed, uncovered a potentially deadly weapons stash and grabbed £600,000 in dirty cash to dismantle the up-and-coming cocaine cartel. 3 3 Force insiders told how the rising syndicate of dealers had been responsible for exploiting vulnerable children in some of the country's poorest areas. The County Lines network of hoods were supplied from safe houses then transported their drugs between areas by car. Cops made a series of motorway busts to nail alleged couriers as part of Operation Intensity, which was launched in May 2023 to cripple the mobsters' plot. Officers went on to raid dozens of properties, recovering 200kg in illegal drugs. Huge stashes of substances found included heroin, ecstasy, herbal cannabis and other pills. Weapons including a handgun and airguns were confiscated along with ammunition. Specialist officers in Police Scotland's organised crime and counter terrorism unit discovered 11 children at risk while probing the mobsters. The cops ensured the safety of the youngsters by passing them into the care of relatives or referring them to support agencies. They made busts in urban and rural areas around the country in the sustained two-year crackdown. In a motorway swoop in September 2023, officers recovered 11.75kg of cocaine worth £1million on the M74 at Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire. Five months on, specialist officers confiscated a stash of 5,000 ecstasy tablets valued at £25,000 in Broxburn, West Lothian. Cops returned to the M74 to seize 61kg of cannabis worth £340,000, at Abington, Lanarkshire, in June 2024. And a further 5,000 Valium-like etizolam pills thought to be worth £2,500 were taken off the streets in Falkirk the following month. Crime-fighters following the gang's trail then discovered 10,000 diazepam pills valued at £20,000 at an address in Glasgow. Raids continued across the country, including in Argyll and Tayside. Top cops blasted the criminals for grooming kids. Detective Superintendent Stevie Elliot revealed 46 search warrants were executed to disrupt the gang. He added: 'This operation is a clear example of how we use our national resources, alongside the knowledge of our local policing teams, to bring down large gangs operating across the country. 'Organised criminal gangs show no shame or remorse for their actions and all their activities are focused on profiting from exploitation. 'This shows our commitment to the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, where we work with partners on a multi-agency approach to tackle the threat of organised crime gangs.' County Lines networks are known to trap kids and groom them to shift drugs with promises of cash or threats of violence. Det Supt Elliot explained: 'Our strategy was maximising the safety of the public and protecting vulnerable people, particularly children and young people who are all too often coerced and groomed by County Lines drug dealers.' He urged people to come forward if they have concerns about drugs or organised crime in their communities — insisting police need information to nail more hoods. Supt Elliot added: 'We cannot do this alone and we need the public's help to rid these gangs from their communities.'
