Drugs, cash and weapons were seized by Dorset Police as part of Operation Viper at the beginning of October.

Between Monday 3 and Sunday 9 October, the force took part in a national intensification week to disrupt county lines gangs operating across the country.

The aim of the intensification week was to make life as difficult as possible for suspected members of county lines drugs gangs, who often use violence and intimidation to exploit children and the vulnerable and force them to store and ‘run’ drugs for them.

The week of intensification involved officers engaging in significant activity in relation to drug-related crime, in particular county lines, including: engaging with the public to obtain intelligence, visiting and safeguarding vulnerable people and making arrests.

This work has led to a considerable disruption of alleged county lines gangs in Dorset and has removed a large quantity of suspected class A drugs from the streets.

Over the course of the week, Dorset officers carried out 48 cuckooing prevention visits, made 22 arrests and seized 146 wraps of heroin and crack cocaine, £7,500 in cash, various weapons and 17 mobile phones. In total, 27 people impacted by county lines were safeguarded.

Operation Viper sees a dedicated team of officers working alongside local neighbourhood policing teams to use intelligence and enforcement to tackle suspected county lines gangs and make the region a hostile place for those intent on dealing drugs and bringing misery on communities.

ACC Rachel Farrell said: “Dorset Police is constantly working towards the eradication of county lines activity in Dorset. This national week of intensification has further added to the excellent results achieved by our dedicated policing teams. I am proud to see the effort that has gone into disrupting suspected county lines by seizing drugs, equipment, arms and money and removing alleged dangerous criminals from our streets. This work supports our Op Viper initiative in protecting our communities and disrupting county lines and we will continue to work towards preventing and deterring county lines activity and the exploitation of the vulnerable.”

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, David Sidwick, said: “This is another fine example of the work that Operation Viper does across Dorset and my thanks goes to everyone involved in this ongoing operation to take drugs off our streets. I am delighted to see Dorset Police taking robust action against county lines gangs across the county.

“This is exactly the type of action that I and the residents of Dorset want to see from our police force. We must show the criminals who exploit our young and vulnerable to ply their evil trade, that such crimes will not be tolerated in our county.”

To report suspected drug dealing in your community, please contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk/contact, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101. If a crime is in progress, please dial 999. Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously online at Crimestoppers-uk.org or by calling Freephone 0800 555 111.