County Lines teen 'drug dealer' was reported missing from London

Police said the 17-year-old had been reported missing from London on Saturday night. The boy was found with a Swindon man, 20, alleged to have had two knives on him.

The teen was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. The older man was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and possession of a class B drug.

The arrests came in a week-long blitz on drug dealing in the town. Det Insp Paul Franklin, who leads Wiltshire Police’s drugs squads, said of the missing boy: “Sadly, this is the harsh reality of County Lines.

“The teenager arrested was a missing person from the London area – his parent had reported him missing on Saturday after he had left the family home to go to the shop and never returned.

“All too often we are seeing young people – some who have never had any dealings with the police before – becoming embroiled in county lines after they are falsely promised money and a glamorous lifestyle. They soon find out that this couldn’t be further from the reality.

“The county lines model relies on violence and threats of violence, which is why we very often seize knives and other weapons as part of our proactive raids.

“We know the public are concerned about knife crime, particularly in towns like Swindon and Trowbridge, where we have seen an increase in violent crime.

“And it is important to make clear that when we have incidents involving stabbings, they are very often linked to County Lines.

“People involved at all levels of the model are vulnerable to extreme violence – those who owe money or drugs to dealers, those who are targeted by rival gangs who want to deal on their patch, young people and children who are threatened with violence so they are too scared to get themselves out of the life of crime they have been drawn into.”

A third man, a 21-year-old from Swindon, was arrested on Wednesday evening on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs.