POLICE officers seized £20,000 of class A drugs and made more than a dozen arrests in a week cracking down on county lines drugs networks in Sandwell.

The focused campaign was part of the regional and national County Lines Intensification Week with teams from across Sandwell Police and West Midlands Police working alongside officers in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia in cross-border operations against the drugs supply chains.

Working alongside the force’s WMP County Lines Taskforce, police in Sandwell executed nine drugs warrants during the week, from February 27 to March 5, and arrested 18 people on drugs-related offences.

As a result, police also seized £400,000 of cannabis as well as £20,000 of heroin and cocaine, and recovered numerous weapons, including knives and a Taser.

Police also carried out high visibility patrols with drugs dogs and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operations looking for people moving drugs by road. Officers also worked with British Transport Police and Safer Travel to identify any drugs runners using the rail system or bus networks.

The dealers who operate the lines often exploit children to carry drugs and one youngster reported missing was arrested in Warwickshire for possession with intent to supply.

Vulnerable adults can be used, with their homes being taken over as drugs dens, so police also visited 17 addresses believed to have been used for 'cuckooing' and one man was arrested on drugs offences.

Sergeant Dave Rogers, from Sandwell Police, said: "Our teams also reached out to the children themselves with more than 800 youngsters at schools around the borough hearing about the dangers of being drawn into drugs networks.

"And our work here in Sandwell continues this week and every week, to bring down the drugs lines and, alongside partners in local authorities, health and charities, to help divert our young people who are vulnerable to County Lines exploitation away from criminal gangs and on to brighter futures."