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Squads of ‘cuckoo’ drug mules leave locals ‘too scared to SPEAK’ in leafy town becoming UK’s new gang capital
The tools of their trade are intimidation, muscle, knives and, increasingly, guns
SQUADS of "cuckoo" drug mules are leaving locals "too scared to speak" as a leafy town becomes the UK's new gang capital.
Forty nine minutes is all it takes to send teenagers weighed down with drugs from London to Swindon - and destroy a once-proud town.
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That short rail journey from the capital is the reason why Swindon has seen an explosion in drugs and knife and gun crime in recent years.
Locals in the once-peaceful Wiltshire town are now too terrified to leave their homes at nights and many are making plans to move out.
For it seems “county lines” gangs have taken over most of the drug dealing in the town and the ruthless leaders of the criminal enterprise will stop at nothing to protect their “business”.
The tools of their trade are intimidation, muscle, knives and, increasingly, guns.
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One local we spoke to, who asked not to be identified for fear of losing his life, told us: “Almost every drug deal done in this town now is off the back of county lines.
“The way they work is they find young people living here - the more vulnerable or desperate, the better - and groom them, bribe them with money and free drugs, make them promises, threaten them, whatever they have to do to allow the drug runners to live in their homes and use them as a base.
“Then, these so-called cuckoos completely take over their lives.
“They get free board and lodging and in many cases they force these young local people to go out onto the streets delivering or selling their drugs for them so they don’t get caught dealing themselves.
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“It is going on in literally hundreds of houses and flats throughout the town and no one is doing anything about it.
“If anyone does, the knives, and even guns, come out and they are threatened, or worse.
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“Think about it, if you’ve got 20 people on a train, each carrying an amount of drugs that could be classed as being for their own personal use and therefore not necessarily a jailable offence, by the time that group has made several journeys from London to Swindon, the total volume of drugs is enormous.
"The quantity of drugs coming into Swindon every day in this way amounts to a small fortune in drug sales on the streets here, and the effect of all those drugs on the town is devastating."
I looked at the beltline on this guy’s trousers and I could see the butt of a gun tucked in at his waist
Source
The source went on to say locals in the town are "off their heads night and day" - with many being schoolkids.
He added: "Most of them are young, still at school in many cases, and those have left school are too drugged up to want to work or do anything useful. It is an absolute mess here.
"I’m moving out as soon as I can scrape enough money together.
“I was in a pub recently and I saw a guy selling some cocaine to a local.
"I went outside for a smoke shortly afterwards and as the drug dealer left the pub, he was approached from behind by another guy, who grabbed him and threw him against the wall.
“He told him he was part of a bigger drugs network and said that he if he ever saw him selling drugs in Swindon again, he’d do him.
"I looked at the beltline on this guy’s trousers and I could see the butt of a gun tucked in at his waist.
"I’ve no doubt this fella was a senior player in the county lines operation because he was boasting about having hundreds of people at his disposal in the town.”
The source was speaking from his home in Penhill, scene of the tragic knife murder of 18-year-old Owen Dunn last year.
They install themselves in these vulnerable people’s lives and homes and run them like remote controlled toys
Source
Penhill is one of several large housing estates in the town beginning with the letter 'P'.
Pinehurst, Park North and Park South are among the others - earning Swindon a new name among locals: “P-Town”.
Another resident, in Pinehurst, said she too had witnessed gun crime in her hometown.
The woman, in her early 20s, said: “I was at a party at my friend’s house a few months ago and a huge row erupted between two gangs of teenage youth outside.
“We went outdoors to see what was going on and it was pretty clear it was about some kind of turf war involving drugs.
"Next thing, a car pulled up and two huge guys got out and one of them pulled a gun out from inside his jacket and told one of the groups that if they continued selling drugs on this estate, he’d put them all six feet under.
What are county lines?
County lines is the trafficking of drugs from larges cities into rural areas.
Criminal gangs will recruit vulnerable children or adults as mules to run the drugs from location to location.
Some of those are taken on are there to pay off their own drug debts.
Between 2018 and 2019 figures from the National Crime Agency showed 1,500 drug trafficking routes through county lines in the UK.
“This is what Swindon is like now. It used to be such a lovely place when I was growing up but drugs and violence, and especially gun crime, is wrecking this beautiful town.
“ I know what the problem is – it’s county lines. They send the drugs up from London with young guys who seem to have no problem finding vulnerable people in Swindon to do their dirty work.
“They install themselves in these vulnerable people’s lives and homes and run them like remote controlled toys.
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"They use intimidation and violence and completely takeover every area of their lives.
"The cops know this is going on but nothing seems to change. Swindon does not deserve this.”
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