NEARLY 3,000 county lines drug operations have been closed, in a record year for the Home Office.
More gang leaders have been arrested and weapons seized than ever before, in a rare victory for ministers.
Data released today shows 2,740 county lines were closed, 1,657 gang leaders charged and 961 knives seized in 2025.
County lines are when gangs run drugs from big cities to small towns using children.
The clamp led to a 25 per cent cut in hospital admissions for stabbings in hotspots.
Next week, ministers will launch a plan to halve knife crime within a decade.
British Transport Police recently caught two 11-year-olds carrying drugs on the network in the South East.
Last month The Sun spent a day with the BTP taskforce looking for county lines victims at Preston train station.
The unit involves uniformed and undercover officers, as well as their secret weapon, police dog Ash, who reacts to the smell of drugs.
We witnessed two suspects being searched and patted down after Ash followed them through the station.
Then cops received a tip-off about cuckooing — when drug gangs take over the home of a vulnerable adult to use as a “trap house” where they store and sell drugs.
Officers raced to the property, where they arrested two men for drug offences and discovered a vulnerable male living there.
As part of our investigation, The Sun also revealed that vulnerable children are facing increasing violence and sexual abuse in trap houses.
