I went on police raid in quiet street as cops hit county lines drug den… reality of vile ‘cuckooing’ left me horrified

AS wake up calls go it is certainly effective.

Just before dawn, in a sleepy neighbourhood in Bolton, a loud bang is heard, followed by shouts of, “Police!”.

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Twelve boys in blue have marched up the road, past well manicured lawns, scanning rows of bungalows until they find the one they are after.

The group split into two, half covering the back door, the rest at the front — then BOOM! — they smash their way inside the house.

Within seconds, the entire team has swooped into the property, much to the surprise of the occupants, who are still half-asleep.

In the living room, the homeowner and his girlfriend are squashed together on a dirty sofa.

But these are not the people the cops are looking for.

One officer rings a number — a “county lines” drug dealer hotline — and hears it buzzing in the upstairs dormer.

Sweeping into the room, the phone is spotted vibrating as it charges on top of a bookshelf.

A man, who is in bed with a woman, quickly admits it is his.

Moments later, he is handcuffed, arrested for the alleged supply of Class A drugs and bundled into a waiting van as neighbours watch.

The grim scenes inside the house are thought to be an example of so-called “cuckooing” — a sinister tactic in which dealers use violence, drugs and manipulation to take over a vulnerable person’s home.

It is used in county lines operations, and can also be a strategy to facilitate sex work, illegal weapons trading and storing stolen goods.

The practice gained prominence after it featured in BBC’s fictional cop drama Line Of Duty, in which a vulnerable character with Down’s Syndrome was exploited by a gang.

In Bolton, police believe the owner of this house, a young man, was “cuckooed” by the alleged supplier. It’s understood a male in his 20s had yesterday been held for questioning.

By now, cops are searching the filthy pad to see if any Class A narcotics are hidden there.

All four people inside admitted being drug takers, and foil wraps used for smoking crack cocaine litter every room.

Cigarette butts lie all around and mould can be seen growing up the walls and on the blinds and curtains.

The convoy of cops are here working on intelligence that the arrested man was allegedly running a county lines drugs operation, selling heroin and crack cocaine.

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This practice involves crooks peddling narcotics to towns or rural areas away from big cities using a dedicated mobile phone line.

Greater Manchester Police invited The Sun along on yesterday’s raid to highlight the war on county lines dealers blighting Britain.

Police constable Andy Shaw, a member of the force’s dedicated County Lines team, told us: “Thanks to intelligence, we’ve been able to move on this line pretty fast.

“It’s been supplying Bolton since December. We’ve been able to recover the phone and the person (we suspect of) running the line today. There’s other people inside that we believe have been cuckooed.

“Cuckooing is vile and it is at the forefront of drug-dealing. [Dealers] come to somebody’s address and take it over, and the person that resides at the address has got absolutely no choice. They can’t say no.

“They are threatened, coerced, vulnerable, sometimes fed drugs — they just feel like they can’t say no to these people.”

While they are dedicated to smashing the gangs, PC Shaw insisted that police are not aiming only to arrest the bad guys, but also to help those who have been drawn into their web.

We’re not here to just put people in prison, victims need to be helped and we’ll help them

PC Andy Shaw, a member of Greater Manchester Police’s dedicated County Lines team

He said: “We’re not here to just put people in prison. Victims need to be helped and we’ll help them.”

But keeping up with the dealers can be hard. PC Shaw added: “We are getting wise to tactics now, so they’ll try different tactics themselves.

“They’ll keep drugs at different addresses to the phones, or in cars.

“But every time they change, so do we. We’ll take every action possible, we need to.”

And Greater Manchester Police are having some success.

Since September 2022, the force has seized 108kg of Class A and B drugs, and seen 366 arrests, of which 304 have been charged.

From convictions, criminals have been thrown behind bars for a combined 749 years, while 397 lines have been shut down.

Meanwhile, between June 2019 and July 2024, Greater Manchester cops identified 341 potential victims of cuckooing in their area.

UK police have turned the practice into one of their key targets, and the Government is planning to make it, along with child criminal exploitation, an offence in its own right.

It forms part of the Crime and Policing Bill, which is due to be introduced to Parliament today.

Cuckooing victim Chloe, whose name has been changed, spent decades being used and assaulted by criminals in her Wiltshire home.

The 48-year-old said she ran away from her abusive family, turned to prostitution and started smoking crack cocaine as a young teen.

Decades later, she met a man who she believed loved her, but he turned her home into a drug den.

Chloe said: “He was a charmer and I thought he was going to make my life better. But he didn’t even like me, let alone love me.

"Over the years, I bared my soul to him and, by the end of it, he was cracking my head open and letting me get raped.

“He would get phone calls from friends asking to stay and I’d say yes. The men who arrived were as young as 18 or 19 and came from everywhere, including Birmingham, London and Gloucester.

“In return for them using my house, I got a £10 stone of crack.

'Sickening'

“If I argued back, then they would sexually assault me and smash up my house.

"Or they shovelled drugs down my neck, so I didn’t have a chance to be sober and think, ‘This is not right’. The crack made me vulnerable. I couldn’t focus. They knew exactly what they were doing.

“I spent years like that. They don’t care if they kill you.”

Announcing the new crackdown on cuckooing and child exploitation, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “The exploitation of children and vulnerable people for criminal gain is sickening. And it is vital we do everything in our power to eradicate it from our streets.

“As part of our Plan for Change, we are introducing these two offences to properly punish those who prey, ensure victims are properly protected and prevent the often-hidden crimes from occurring in the first place.”

The crack made me vulnerable. I couldn’t focus. They knew exactly what they were doing

Chloe

Currently, police have to rely on modern slavery laws to take action against crooks who target vulnerable people, meaning it can be hard to get a conviction.

A sensational storyline in Line Of Duty saw character Terry Boyle, played by Tommy Jessop, who had Down’s Syndrome, being cuckooed.

A gang used his flat to murder journalist Gail Vella then frame him, with corrupt cop Ryan Pilkington reminding Terry they were “best mates” and that everything would be fine if he kept quiet. Cuckooing has also featured in police drama Luther and US show Fargo.

But PC Shaw is determined to stamp drugs out on his patch.

He said: “We’ve done some really good work over the last 12 months.

“We’ve closed down over 160 drug lines throughout Greater Manchester.

“We’re putting a lot of people in prison. We’re getting rid of a lot of drug dealers that are on the streets.”

lIf you have any information about drug gangs and networks who have recently moved into your area, you can report them anonymously to charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or use the anonymous online form at .

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