'We must stand up to these people' say police, after coordinated drugs gang crackdown
The force has released the results of its latest week of action - after joining with police across the South West
It's been confirmed 36 men and five women have been arrested across Devon and Cornwall as part of a coordinated week of police action targeting drugs gangs
Almost £60,000 in cash was seized and 15 people safeguarded - with eight of those living in homes controlled by the county lines gangs as part of Operation Scorpion.
Adam Stonehill, an inspector in Bodmin for Devon & Cornwall Police, said: "This goes with conversations we're having with schools, with young people and then our most vulnerable communities - to make sure we're gathering and submitting that intelligence
"We work with partners to make sure we safeguard those vulnerable people as best as we can - and it's trying to take those drugs and those dangerous people away from those locations.
"In order to apply for a warrant we need a certain amount of intelligence. We get that from members of the public, from Crimestoppers and our other partner agencies and from my officers that are out on the streets.
"That then builds that picture of what is going on in a particular place and time and location.
"It's a national (county lines) issue but in Devon and Cornwall in particular we really must stand up to these type of people.
“There's an awful lot of people without a voice and without ability in order to be able to look after themselves - and we're here to make sure we're doing our bit for the most vulnerable and everybody else.”
The latest coordinated police work was the 11th iteration of Operation Scorpion, which sees the five South West police forces join together to crack down on drug dealing and associated crime.
An operation at the end of last year also resulted in 26 arrests and 48 people, including 19 children, being safeguarded in Devon and Cornwall. The December Operation Scorpion week of action also saw more than £10,000 of cash seized in the Devon & Cornwall Police force area alongside more than 6kg of cannabis and more than 2kg of cocaine.