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The Metropolitan Police said it had made more than 200 arrests and seized more than a million pounds of drugs in a week-long crackdown on London county gangs. From Monday, February 27 through Sunday, March 5, Met officials charged 105 people on a total of 223 counts, including 150 drug trafficking charges and 131 Class A and B drug charges. During the operation, 177 vulnerable people were protected. During the same period, officers seized 8.3 kilograms of Class A drugs, 37.6 kilograms of Class B drugs, £652,214 in cash, five firearms and 51 weapons, including knives, machetes and swords.
Met Police said the operation also uncovered several cases of vulnerable children being victimized by criminals and "used as merchandise".
"Instead of criminalizing these children, officers are working with Rescue and Response to ensure they are protected and supported," the Met said in a statement.
Detective Superintendent Rick Sewart, the senior officer in charge of borough lines at the Met, said borough lines, a drug delivery model that traffics drugs to rural areas and small towns, far from big cities, they were "intrinsically linked to homicides and serious violence." .
He added that 80% of county offenders charged with drug trafficking this fiscal year had prior violent arrests.
“County line networks prey on children and youth, trafficking them and subjecting them to modern day slavery involving horrific emotional and physical abuse,” Sewart said.
“Victims are forced, through violence, blackmail and debt bondage, to possess and supply drugs.
"Those involved are using weapons and serious violence, including kidnapping, to intimidate and threaten victims."
In addition, the county's networks target people vulnerable to Class A drug addictions, he said.
Earlier this month, the British Transport Police (BTP) warned that teenagers as young as 13 were being lured with promises of money and gifts to work for drug dealers.
Youngsters have been offered money, mobile phones, vaporizers and clothing to take advantage of so-called 'business opportunities' promoted on social media, with building agents claiming to have seen messages sent by drug dealers asking 'who wants to make £500? this weekend?" in an attempt to attract youth to gangs.
In a survey of 1,500 children between the ages of 13 and 19 commissioned by BTP, 19% said that a drug dealer had offered them or a friend a job.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll, found that 20% of the children surveyed knew someone who sold or transported drugs.
He said that 15% of adolescents had seen drugs being offered or sold on social media and 18% at school.
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