County lines: Government pledges to dismantle 2,000 gangs in drug policy overhaul

The government is pledging to dismantle 2,000 county lines gangs as part of a drugs policy overhaul.

The £300m commitment is one proposal in the new 10-year drug strategy for England and Wales.

It will also see the largest ever single increase in investment in treatment and recovery, the government says.

Other planned measures include using drug dealers' seized phones to message their clients to discourage drug use.

Labour said reforms were "long overdue" and cuts to police budgets had allowed gangs to grow.

County line gangs are urban drug dealers who sell to customers in more rural areas via dedicated phone lines.

They are notorious for exploiting children to work as couriers and forcing vulnerable people to let them use their homes to conceal or deal drugs.

The government said operations targeting these gangs had led to the closure of 1,500 lines so far, with more than 7,400 arrests and more than 4,000 vulnerable children and adults safeguarded.

Also included in its strategy, which is due to be published in full later on Monday, is the expansion of testing on arrest, with police forces being encouraged to direct drug users towards treatment or other interventions.

Judges will also be given the power to order testing on anyone serving a community sentence for drug-related offences and those who test positive could be jailed.

There are more than 300,000 heroin and crack addicts in England who are responsible for nearly half of all burglaries, robberies and shop thefts - while drugs drive nearly half of all homicides, the Home Office said.

This comes with a cost to society of nearly £20bn a year in England alone, it added.

Other plans to discourage people from buying illegal drugs will include police using dealers' seized phones to message their clients to direct them to support and discourage use - a move the government says will help ensure no-one feels anonymous when buying drugs.

There are also plans to pilot a behaviour change campaign on university campuses to understand what messages discourage drug misuse at an early stage.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said drugs are "a scourge on our society", fuelling "violence on our streets which communities across the country are forced to endure".

"That's why, to cut crime and truly level up across the country, we must step up efforts to wipe out the vile county lines gangs who are blighting our neighbourhoods, exploiting children and ruining lives," he said.

Mr Johnson said the new strategy would attack supply and break the county lines model which sees criminals "profit from people's misery".

"Those who break the law will have nowhere to hide," he added.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said more action was needed "to prevent these ruthless gangs ruining lives, tearing apart communities and exploiting young people", adding it was "clear that the drugs trade is still driving so much crime".

"This strategy will help to relentlessly pursue the kingpins behind these supply lines," she said.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP said reforms were "long overdue" and that cuts to police budgets had allowed gangs to grow.

"Any action from the government must be substantial enough to undo the damage they have caused," she said.