Seven people have been arrested as part of a two day drug dealing operation in Crewe.

Officers raided one house and one hotel room making the arrests in relation to county lines drug dealing.

Three of those arrested have since been charged.

One has been bailed pending further enquiries.

The first arrests were made on Tuesday, June 11, when three men were arrested following the raid of an address of Gretsy Road at around 4.40pm.

Two of the men have since been charged.

Thomas Wilson, 34, of Cottesbrook Place, Liverpool was charged with being concerned in the supply of a class A drug.

Police raided a property on Gretsy Road in relation to the county lines operation

Barry McWilliams, 37, of Derrington Avenue, Crewe, was charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (heroin and cocaine).

The third man, a 45-year-old from Crewe, has been released under investigation pending further enquiries.

At around 4pm the next day three arrests were made at a hotel on Sydney Road after officers received information.  

The two men and one woman have all since been charged with class A drugs offences.

Aaron Owens, 21, of Finch Lane, Liverpool was charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine).

At Crewe Magistrates’ Court today, Friday June 14th, Aaron Owens was remanded in custody and is set to appear at Chester Crown Court on Friday July 12th.

Josh Donnelly, 23, and Amy Wilson, 24, both of Hollow Croft, Stockbridge Village, Knowsley, have also been charged with two counts of being concerned in the supply of class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine).

Donnelly has also been charged with possessing criminal property.

Both were released on conditional bail and are also set to appear at Chester Crown Court on Friday July 12th.

County lines explanation

County lines is a term used when drug gangs from big cities expand their operations to smaller towns, often using violence to drive out local dealers and exploiting children and vulnerable people to sell drugs.

These dealers will use dedicated mobile phone lines, known as ‘deal lines’, to take orders from drug users.

Heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine are the most common drugs being supplied and ordered. In most instances, the users or customers will live in a different area to where the dealers and networks are based, so drug runners are needed to transport the drugs and collect payment.

A common feature in county lines drug supply is the exploitation of young and vulnerable people. The dealers will frequently target children and adults – often with mental health or addiction problems – to act as drug runners or move cash so they can stay under the radar of law enforcement.

In some cases the dealers will take over a local property, normally belonging to a vulnerable person, and use it to operate their criminal activity from. This is known as cuckooing.

People exploited in this way will quite often be exposed to physical, mental and sexual abuse, and in some instances will be trafficked to areas a long way from home as part of the network’s drug dealing business.

As with child sexual exploitation, children often don’t see themselves as victims or realise they have been groomed to get involved in criminality.

Alexandra Scarlett, of no fixed address, was also arrested in Crewe on Wednesday, June 12 as part of the investigation.

She has since been charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs (heroin and crack cocaine) and one count of possessing criminal property.

Scarlett was remanded in custody and is set to return to Crewe Magistrates’ Court on Monday June 17th.

Wilson and McWilliams appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Thursday, June 13.

They were remanded in custody and will appear at Chester Crown Court on Tuesday, July 11.

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