County lines: Record year for gang busts and knife seizures

County lines: Record year for gang busts and knife seizures
Largest ever numbers of drug lines closed, gang leaders put behind bars and dangerous weapons seized through county line operations
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Knife murders plummeted by 27% and overall knife crime cut by 10% since Government took office
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Programme proven to cut knife crime, preventing around 840 stabbings per year
Record numbers of drug dealing lines have been shut down, dangerous criminals brought to justice and knives taken off Britain’s streets under the Government’s relentless crackdown on county lines gangs.
New figures show last year was the best year on record for the Home Office’s County Lines Programme, set up to tackle the ruthless drug dealing gangs who use children and vulnerable people to run drugs from city centres to small towns.
Law enforcement partners closed 2,833 county lines, arrested 7,381 people and charged more than 2,000 line holders. More than 1,400 knives were also removed from the streets.
Alongside this enforcement activity, 4,750 vulnerable people who are most at risk of being exploited by these gangs have been referred for safeguarding support.
Independent evaluation also shows the County Lines Programme has seen hospital admissions for assault with a sharp weapon drop by 25% in key force areas, preventing an estimated 840 knife stabbings every year.
This is just one element of the Government’s work to halve knife crime in the next decade. Knife crime hotspots will see a dramatic surge in police activity to catch knife criminals, such as increased police patrols, new CCTV cameras, Live Facial Recognition deployment and the installation of knife arches.
Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said:
We are shutting down more county lines, bringing more gang leaders to justice and taking more deadly weapons off our streets than ever before.
Our message to these criminals is clear: we will come after you, dismantle your networks and protect the children and young people you seek to exploit.
This Government will not let up in its mission to halve knife crime within a decade, break the grip of county lines gangs and make our communities safer.
Since July 2024, the Programme has delivered more than 4,500 line closures and nearly 12,700 arrests, alongside thousands of safeguarding interventions and the removal of more than 1,900 knives from Britain’s streets.
As well as disrupting criminal networks, the Programme is helping to protect people at risk of exploitation. Specialist services delivered by organisations including Catch22 and SafeCall provide targeted one-to-one support for young people and families, alongside a national confidential helpline offering advice, support and safeguarding.
Emma and Phil Dix, Co-Founders of the Joe Dix Foundation and members of the government’s Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime said:
Children who are criminally exploited through county lines gangs are stripped of their childhood and innocence. The trauma they experience and witness can have lifelong consequences, affecting their mental health, relationships, education, and future opportunities.
Any child can be vulnerable to exploitation, which is why the Government’s work in targeted areas is so important. It is also why charities such as the Joe Dix Foundation play a vital role in raising awareness of the dangers, warning signs, and devastating consequences of child criminal exploitation while sharing Joe’s tragic story.
Our son, Joe, was criminally exploited at the age of 13 and was fatally stabbed at 18 by a rival gang. The latest Government figures show encouraging progress, with more children being identified and supported. However, this work must continue and be consistently available across the whole country so that every child, regardless of where they live, has the opportunity to be protected from exploitation.”
Daniel Morris, Assistant Director of Young People and Families at Catch22, says:
We’re proud to work alongside the Government and the police to safeguard vulnerable children and young people, which must be at the heart of the response to county lines exploitation.
These results demonstrate the vital importance of the County Lines Programme in disrupting the criminal networks that exploit children and young people for profit and represent positive progress towards the Government’s mission to halve knife crime.
However, there is still more to be done as Catch22’s frontline work shows us more specialist, therapeutic mental health support is crucial for victims so we can draw a line under repeated cycles of harm and build safer futures for exploited children and young people.
Commander Paul Brogden, national policing lead for County Lines and gangs, said:
Tackling County Lines is a top priority for UK policing. The criminals involved are violent, exploit vulnerable people, and cause serious harm to communities.
Since the Home Office-funded County Lines Programme was established, we have closed more lines, charged more violent offenders, and safeguarded more children and adults at risk of grooming, exploitation, and other harms than ever before.
Following our most recent week-long intensification period in March - during which policing again made a significant impact dismantling operations and safeguarding vulnerable people - I made it clear that the efforts were not a one-off and that we remain as committed as ever to tackling this abhorrent crime. These latest figures are testament to that.
As county lines gangs’ methods continue to evolve, so too does our policing approach, led by the National County Lines Coordination Centre. Policing cannot tackle this issue alone and we remain committed to working with the Home Office and a wide range of partners to prevent young people from being drawn into high‑harm criminality, support those already being exploited, and bring those responsible to justice.
Kathy Betteridge, Director of Anti Trafficking and Modern Slavery for The Salvation Army, said:
County lines exploitation causes immense harm to individuals, families and communities. Through our work supporting survivors, we see the lasting impact these crimes can have - the trauma and the challenges people face as they recover.
Action to disrupt these criminal networks is vital, both to protect people who might be targets and bring offenders to justice.
Survivors need not only protection but the right support and opportunities to recover and move forward.
The record results come as the Government steps up action through its recently published plan to halve knife crime, Protecting lives, building hope, bringing together tougher enforcement, prevention and early intervention to tackle violence and its root causes.