More than 2,700 drug strains closed and practically 1,000 knives seized in 2025 | EUROtoday

More than 2,700 drug strains had been closed and practically 1,000 knives had been seized all through 2025 in a “record year” for gang busts, the Home Office has introduced.

Some 2,740 county strains had been shut down between January and December final yr, 1,657 gang leaders charged and 961 blades taken, in response to newly launched Government knowledge.

County strains networks are sometimes gangs based mostly in cities that use telephone numbers to promote medication, primarily crack cocaine and heroin, to clients in different counties and smaller cities, usually involving the exploitation of kids.

The determine for 2025 is the very best since data started underneath the Government’s county strains programme launched in 2019, in response to the Home Office.

According to knowledge from the National Archives, 1,150 strains had been closed between April 2022 and January 2023, 1,656 between April 2021 and March 2022, some 643 between April 2020 and March 2021 and a few 139 between November 2019 and March 2020.

It comes because the Government prepares to launch its plan to halve knife crime inside a decade subsequent Tuesday, with £34 million funding confirmed for the county strains programme this yr to fund police motion like home raids and medicines seizures throughout transport networks.

Policing minister Sarah Jones stated: “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.”