County lines crackdown leads to 43 arrests

Forty-three people have been arrested in a crackdown on county lines gangs operating in North East Lincolnshire.

Police said seven phone lines used to supply drugs were shut down in a two-day operation this week.

Humberside and Merseyside Police targeted locations including Grimsby and Scunthorpe as part of the campaign.

Fourteen people, including suspects from Grimsby, Bradford, Merseyside and London, have been charged with a variety of drug offences.

Police seized Class A drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine, worth around £10,000 during the operation.

They also recovered more than £5,000 in cash, 30 mobile phones and Class B drugs including cannabis and spice.

Insp Darren Wallace from Merseyside Police said: "Criminals running their county lines operations don't care about borders, as shown by the arrests made for nominals from Merseyside, Humberside, London and Bradford."

He said the joint operation "involved many teams including roads policing, intelligence, neighbourhood and plain-clothes patrols".

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