Bedford man charged with modern slavery offence

A man from Bedford has been charged with a modern slavery offence and drug offences following a major county lines drug trafficking sting by police.

Officers joined forces across the country and carried out operations EVERY DAY last week to stop the exploitation of children to sell drugs.

These included:

A man from Bedford being charged with a modern slavery offence as well as six drug dealing offences following a warrant by the force’s Boson guns and gangs team. Two further arrests were made during the week in connection to the same drugs line

Class A drugs were seized and two arrests made as part of another operation targeting the Bugz line, with one man being charged for breaching bail conditions

Three people were arrested following a warrant targeting the Ghost drugs line

Prison cells were searched at Bedford Prison to target illegal drugs activity

Boson carried out two days of patrols in hotspot areas in the county for gang activity, including making one arrest linked to county lines drug dealing

The week of action comes as senior police leaders have welcomed a fall in serious youth violence over recent months.

The latest figures show a fall of 21% in recorded incidents of serious youth violence in Bedfordshire over August and September, compared to the previous three months.

Other successes in recent weeks include:

In the last week of September a joint cross-team effort saw four people – two men and two women – charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs

Officers attended an address in Bedford after stopping a vehicle nearby, and recovered around 2.5 kilos of cocaine worth approximately £100,000

The force’s Operation Costello team charged two people with drug offences after uncovering a cannabis factory with more than 500 plants in it in Bedford

Another man from Luton was also charged with money laundering offences, while Boson made seven arrests in Luton and Dunstable as part of another patrol for a range of drugs, weapons and violent offences

Meanwhile, more than 1,300 knives were also recovered from the county’s 11 weapons bins over the summer.

The bins were initially emptied in July where 590 blades and two firearms were found. They were emptied again in September, with a further 715 knives recovered along with another two firearms.

After being reviewed by officers to see if they have been used in any crimes, the weapons will then be destroyed.