Derbyshire man jailed for 'cuckooing' address of vulnerable woman for drugs operation

Zachary Bartram, 24, of Shaw Lane, Holbrook was jailed for 30 months for possession with intent to supply class A and class B drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis. The offence relates to an incident on January 13 this year in which Bartram was found with quantities of drugs in the flat of a vulnerable victim, who had also been forced to sell drugs.

When officers searched the flat they discovered that Bartram had attempted to dispose of drugs in the toilet.

County lines is a type of crime which involves the exploitation of vulnerable young people and adults by violent gang members in order to move and sell drugs across the country. Drug dealers often take over the address of a vulnerable person to run the drug line from, which is known as cuckooing.

A Derbyshire police spokesperson said: "We take offences of this kind very seriously and in response to a noticeable increase in county lines intelligence now have a dedicated County Lines Disruption Team who work together to tackle county lines related criminality in Derby city, Erewash and South Derbyshire."

Tips to spot the signs of cuckooing are:

* Increased visitors to an address

* Evidence of drug use in public areas

* Secure doors wedged open

If you suspect that cuckooing is happening in your area, contact police on 101 or via the online contact form at derbyshire.police.uk/Contact-Us.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.