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I wanted to provide you with an update regarding Drugs and related issues, which people around your area have highlighted as an issue of concern on the priority survey. Officers made 20 arrests, executed three warrants, seized Class A drugs, and took weapons off the streets during County Lines Intensification Week in Hart & Rushmoor and Basingstoke.
The week of intensification, which ran from Monday 2 March until Sunday 8 March, saw officers from both districts focus their efforts on County Lines.
County Lines is a term used to describe organised criminal networks that move illegal drugs out of larger cities into smaller towns and cities in the UK, using dedicated mobile phone lines.
They are likely to exploit children and vulnerable adults to move and store the drugs and money, and they will often use coercion, intimidation, violence and weapons.
During the intensification week, teams in Hart & Rushmoor and Basingstoke carried out proactive warrants, operations, patrols and stop checks.
Some of the highlights are below:
• A warrant was executed at an address on Grosvenor Road, Aldershot. A cannabis factory containing more than 300 plants, suspected Class A drugs and £1,500 was located. All items were seized and three men from Aldershot were charged with drugs offences.
• A warrant was executed at an address in Coppice Square, Aldershot. Several items were seized, including weapons, suspected Class A drugs and drugs paraphernalia. A 41-year-old woman from Aldershot was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class A drug.
• A 26-year-old man from Rochester, Kent, was charged with being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and being concerned in the supply of heroin following an investigation into drugs supply in Hart and Rushmoor.
• Two men were arrested after officers located approximately 100 bags of suspected Class A drugs, £875 in cash and incapacitant spray following a proactive stop on Soper Grove, Basingstoke.
• A 29-year-old man was arrested after officers located more than £1,000 in cash, suspected Class A drugs and an axe following a proactive stop in Oakridge Road, Basingstoke.
Police Sergeant Helen Wentworth, from the Hart and Rushmoor Priority Crime Team, said: “County Lines Intensification Week is a priority for our team, and we do everything we can to ensure that we prevent the exploitation of children and vulnerable people in the district.
“Throughout the week, we disrupted county lines, carried out two warrants, safeguarded vulnerable people and took a considerable number of drugs and weapons off the streets.”
A/Police Sergeant Robyn Gaimster, from the Basingstoke Priority Crime Team, said: “We work incredibly hard to tackle and disrupt the supply of drugs, especially through county lines, within Basingstoke and the surrounding areas.
“We made arrests, disrupted drugs lines, and carried out several house visits and searches to help keep people safe in the district. Please continue to tell us about any suspected drugs activity in your neighbourhood so we can safeguard children and vulnerable adults and bring offenders to justice.”
To read more about CLIW, and how Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police arrested 71 people and disrupted 10 county lines, read our full press release here: County Lines drug networks dismantled in major national crackdown | Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
To make a report in relation to drug-related activity, you can contact us on 101 or make a report via our website at https://www.hampshire.police.uk/
If you don’t want to report to the police directly, you can report to the charity Crimestoppers 100% anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their website at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
For information on spotting the signs of exploitation please visit The Children Society’s website https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/child-criminal-exploitation-and-county-lines/spotting-signs
ENDS
 The illicit drugs market is big business, worth an estimated £9.4 billion a year and drug deaths have reached an all-time. Taking the health harms, costs of crime and wider impacts on society together, it is estimated the total costs of drugs to society are over £19 billion, which is more than twice the value of the market itself. If you are adversely affected by antisocial behaviour in your community associated with drug use, The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 outlines the flexible tools and powers that the police, local authorities and other local agencies can use to respond quickly and effectively to antisocial behaviour. If you ever experience this issue or have information regarding an incident, please report it using our online reporting tools at www.hampshire.police.uk, or call the non-emergency number 101. Alternatively, you can stay 100 per cent anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org. Get Involved Please consider getting involved by registering for these messages, this will enable you to contribute to the local priority survey. We may be unaware of issues that you would like us to focus on. Take a few minutes to securely and privately register and have your say using the button below, this will mean we can focus on things that matter to you. 
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