Colchester: 'We take out drugs lines and we protect victims'

Following the deaths of three people relating to drugs in Colchester, officers have been carrying out checks on Class A users to make sure they are OK.

Two people sadly died in the city over the weekend of 11 and 12 May, with a third death reported to us on Tuesday 14 May.

A fourth man was also taken ill in the city. Thankfully, medics were able to treat him, and he has survived.

Each incident is believed to be related to the consumption of Class A drugs.

Yesterday, Monday 20 May, safeguarding officers from our specialist drugs team were visiting Class A drug users across the city to ensure they are OK and are aware of the help and support available to them through our partners.

We worked alongside out-reach workers from drug and alcohol recovery service Open Road whilst Colchester MP Will Quince and Colchester Council portfolio holder for communities Natalie Sommers were invited to speak to officers carrying out that work.

Thankfully, no one visited had come to serious harm.

Detective Sergeant Mark Ghosh, Op Raptor safeguarding officer, works to support vulnerable people whose homes have been taken over by a drug line or who we believe to be at risk of that.

The safeguarding team is passed intelligence and information from teams pursuing drug gangs, which can reveal vulnerable people at risk of being exploited, or ‘cuckooed’. Those people are often known Class A drug users and regular checks are carried out on those people to make sure they are safe, and they know where help is available to them.

DS Ghosh said:

“At this stage, cuckooing is not an offence in itself so as a team we have to be really proactive on these visits to see if there are other unreported criminal offences.
“Often when we speak to people, we find they may have been a robbery victim with a drugs runner or line holder being the suspect, so we can look at that as an offence in the wider investigation.
“Equally, from a modern slavery and human trafficking perspective, can we identify that someone has been ordered to do something with no payment for that work? Even including preparing things for a runner or line holder or even preparing food for that person – that is modern slavery and we can look at offences there.
“On other occasions, the checks can end up being purely on health, wellbeing and welfare – just to make sure people are OK. At Christmas, for example, we did a check and the person we were checking on hadn’t eaten for a week; they’d missed the food bank’s days and the person didn’t have money to buy food. So pretty much immediately we went out and got shopping in for him so he could eat.
“Then we made all the relevant referrals to other agencies to make sure there was as much support wrapped around him as there possibly could be. That work is key in saving people’s lives.”

Detective Constable Claire Lukey, also an Op Raptor safeguarding officer, added:

“Quite often, victims of cuckooing may not see themselves as victims because the relationship with the drug line may have started as something else; whether that be the promise of something which is never fulfilled or even because, alongside being exploited, they are committing other criminal offences and they don’t want to come forward.
“But when that balance has tipped much stronger towards exploitation, that person will primarily be treated as a victim, and we’ll do all we can to help them.”

Last year, Essex Police was among the first forces to successfully secure a conviction under the Modern Slavery Act.

Xavion Benson was operating a drug line between London and Clacton and in January 2022, he trafficked a teenage boy from London to Clacton and ordered him to sell drugs on his behalf. Money was promised but was never paid and the boy lived in squalor for two weeks.

DS Ghosh added:

“This only works because of the whole system working together, from the police to local authorities, to social care, to organisations such as Open Road, which we’ve got with us today. The information we all have is shared, so we all have the best-possible picture.”

Detective Chief Inspector Neal Miller, of our serious violence unit, said:

“We know there will be concern in the community after the tragic deaths in Colchester and we’ve worked very quickly to make three arrests so far. Of those, two people have been charged.
“Whilst this remains an ongoing investigation, with a number of lines of enquiry being meticulously followed, I hope the speed at which these arrests were made shows the strength of the work which is going on both here in Colchester and across the county to identify those people we believe are supplying drugs and preying on vulnerable people.”

Will Quince, MP for Colchester, said:

“The police here in Essex – and of course in Colchester – do a huge amount of work in tackling drugs and their supply, tracking people down and shutting down drug gangs and tackling the violence which very often runs alongside these drug networks. Unfortunately, that sometimes involves children and vulnerable people.
“These people trade on the misery of others, and we know cuckooing is an issue but seeing the work being put in here in Colchester in terms of how the police try to protect vulnerable people is really reassuring.
“So much of policing is unseen; the bravery, the hard work to track down the likes of drug dealers and gangs and the public might not necessarily see that – but we know it is happening every day of the week and I’d like to thank them for their work, both here in Colchester and across Essex.”

Colchester Councillor Natalie Sommers, portfolio holder for communities, said:

“The recent drug deaths in Colchester really bring home the dangers of drug use, and how all agencies must work together to prevent vulnerable people from starting down that route to begin with. But not just the users, County Lines is a country wide problem, most large towns and cities are affected in some way and we need to tackle the source of the problem, the drugs gangs.
“This exercise was aimed at informing users of the dangers that are prevalent at the moment, and also reassuring members of the public that the police are here to help.”

She added:

“Prevention is key. The Colchester Safety Partnership brings together the many organisations in Colchester that can help prevent people, both adults and children, from heading down the wrong route, but also helping them when things have gone so wrong.
“By working together, we can identify and get vulnerable people the help they need. The police do a great job, but they do not exist in a vacuum. Education is a key way of letting children and teenagers know the dangers of drugs and how easy it is to become a target of gangs and become addicted and / or part of the supply chain. We also need to work with the families of those affected. There is a lot of help out there, so we need to make sure people are aware of all the resources available.”

Keeping people safe is at the heart of what we do.

Are you worried that a friend or someone you know may be being exploited through County Lines or organised criminal activity?

Maybe they are returning home late, staying out all night or even going missing for days or weeks at a time.

Are they suddenly being secretive about who they are talking to or where they are going?

Or perhaps you’ve noticed they have large amounts of money on them, or new clothing, jewellery or phones they wouldn’t be able to afford.

Through Fearless, young people can pass on information 100% anonymously to get help.

If you need help from police, call 101 or, if it's an emergency, always call 999.