British Transport Police introduced its County Lines Taskforce back in 2019 and has seen incredible success rates across the country, most recently seeing the charge of one man and three boys with Modern Slavery charges.

The arrests of 21-year-old Declan Sherriff of Twickenham and two 17-year-old boys from North London and Southend and a 16-year-old boy from Warrington took place in June and August 2022. The man and 3 boys were arrested for Drug Supply and Modern Day Slavery offences and charged on the 20th of September.

The arrests in June last year came after two missing teenagers aged 13 and 14 were discovered trying to travel from Brighton Railway station to London with no tickets and were believed to have been exploited by County Lines gangs.

A multifaceted investigation was undertaken after the teenagers were found which involved conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and human trafficking children using the county line between London and Brighton. In 9 days, the impressive investigation saw the missing teenagers found and arrests carried out successfully.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams, head of the County Lines Taskforce, said:

“Achieving 16 Modern Day Slavery charges through a single investigation represents outstanding work by my officers. These charges have almost doubled the number we had achieved since the Taskforce was established in 2019, bringing our total to an impressive 38 modern slavery charges connected to illegal drug supply.”

“Successfully securing criminal charges for such serious offences is down to the dedication of my officers and their tenacity in seeking justice for the two exploited teenagers that we found in Brighton last year.”

“Ensuring those involved received critical safeguarding interventions and support, my team demonstrated that it is dedicated to identifying vulnerability and ensuring the safety of all across the rail network. These charges are a significant step towards disrupting County Lines activity and demonstrating that the railway network will always be a hostile environment for drug suppliers to operate in.”