Police make 26 arrests in crackdown on county lines gangs in North Yorkshire

They also seized £70,000 in cash and large quantities of cocaine, cannabis and heroin, as well as three samurai swords and two knuckle dusters when they executed search warrants in Scarborough, Whitby, Harrogate and York.

Officers said they arrested three men after one raid, because they found drugs with an estimated value of £100,000 and £30,000 worth of cash at a property in Scarborough.

North Yorkshire Police said the six-day operation, which ended on Sunday, was designed to disrupt the supply for illegal drugs.

County line gangs are groups of drug dealers who sell to customers in towns like Harrogate using dedicated phone lines, known as county lines.

The force said it has shut down dozens of lines in recent years as the region is frequently targeted by gangs from cities in Yorkshire, Merseyside, Manchester and London.

They often use children and other vulnerable people to traffic and sell drugs, but also coerce them into committing acts of extreme violence.

Dealers sometimes take control of a vulnerable person’s home and use it as a base for their activities. This practice is known as cuckooing.

The force said that over the last week officers have checked on 73 people who are vulnerable to being exploited by gangs.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Simpson said: “Last week’s targeted activity demonstrates how we are working tirelessly to disrupt the supply of illegal drugs and protect the young and vulnerable in our communities who are exploited by them.

“It’s important to stress this is just one week’s activity and this type of disruption and safeguarding is taking place in communities across North Yorkshire all year round.

“As a force we are committed to cutting these County Lines and to protecting vulnerable people. But we cannot do this alone, our work with partners is important and we also need the support of the public.

“It’s vital that everyone who cares for or knows young and vulnerable people understands the issue and knows the warning signs.”

Former Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has previously warned the system is “completely failing” to protect thousands of children across the country from an “epidemic” of exploitation and primary school pupils as young as nine are being used to run drugs.

One teenager in North Yorkshire, 16-year-old Ben Nelson-Roux was found dead in a homeless hostel for adults in Harrogate in 2020 after he had been exploited by county lines dealers and forced to sell drugs.

An inquest heard he “spiralled desperately out of control” in the final months of his life and had taken a number of drugs before he was found dead.