Nine arrests in major raids over child sexual exploitation, drugs and more

Nine people – five men and four boys – have been arrested following coordinated raids across Staffordshire targeting County Lines drug dealing, modern slavery and human trafficking. Warrants were executed at seven addresses in Kidsgrove and Newcastle-under-Lyne on Friday (September 20).

More than 50 officers, including specialist teams and police dogs, were involved. Staffordshire Police seized Class A and Class B drugs, a number of zombie knives, cash and items associated with drug dealing, including scales.

The nine arrests include a 27-year-old man from the Stoke-on-Trent area, a 24-year-old man, a 22-year-old man, a 21-year-old man and a 19-year-old man, all from Kidsgrove, on suspicion of drug trafficking, human trafficking and modern slavery.

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And four boys, aged 14 to 17, all from the Kidsgrove area, were arrested on suspicion of class A drug trafficking. Police said the raids were also linked to child sexual exploitation and criminal exploitation.

Detective Chief Inspector Amy Martin, lead for child exploitation policing, said: “Today we have executed a number of arrest warrants against individuals we suspect are involved in child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child criminal exploitation (CCE) linked to organised crime and drug trafficking.

“In doing so, we have also protected a number of young people who we believe are being exploited. We take CSE and CCE very seriously and are determined to make Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent an extremely hostile environment for those who are keen to exploit children in this way. We will not tolerate this.

“We also need the public’s help, so if you see something that’s not right, please contact us. That way we can protect children and young people from harm and show offenders that they can’t hide and operate within our communities.”

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A police spokesman said: “The activity follows our ongoing commitment to proactively tackle serious and organised crime in Staffordshire. We launched Operation Target in May last year, working with local police forces to disrupt and prosecute criminals who plan, organise and commit serious crime across the region. These include drug dealing, illegal firearms, knife crime, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.”

All nine arrested individuals remain in custody at this time while police investigations continue.