More than 2,700 drug lines were closed and nearly 1,000 knives were seized throughout 2025 in a “record year” for gang busts, the Home Office has announced.
Some 2,740 county lines were shut down between January and December last year, 1,657 gang leaders charged and 961 blades taken, according to newly released Government data.
County lines networks are typically gangs based in cities that use phone numbers to sell drugs, mainly crack cocaine and heroin, to customers in other counties and smaller towns, often involving the exploitation of children.
The figure for 2025 is the highest since records began under the Government’s county lines programme launched in 2019, according to the Home Office.
According to data from the National Archives, 1,150 lines were closed between April 2022 and January 2023, 1,656 between April 2021 and March 2022, some 643 between April 2020 and March 2021 and some 139 between November 2019 and March 2020.
It comes as the Government prepares to launch its plan to halve knife crime within a decade next Tuesday, with £34 million investment confirmed for the county lines programme this year to fund police action like house raids and drugs seizures across transport networks.
Policing minister Sarah Jones said: “I will not rest in the relentless pursuit of these horrific criminals that leave a trail of violence and exploitation in their wake.
“The Government will halve knife crime within a decade, saving lives and protecting communities.”
