Police made 20 arrests last week in a crackdown on county lines and drug supply.

During a targeted week of action, as part of Operation Viper, Dorset Police seized £41,170 cash, £36,150 worth of drugs, 20 mobile phones and disrupted 40 drug lines.

In total, officers visited 56 addresses linked to vulnerable victims and safeguarded 11 vulnerable children and adults.

The 20 arrests were predominantly for the supply of class A and B drugs.

Activity took place between Monday, July 4, to Friday, July 8, and was led by Dorset Police’s Neighbourhood Enforcement Teams, Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Force Support Group and Intelligence Unit.

Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Farrell, of Dorset Police, said: “Operation Viper is our approach to target those who are believed to be bringing drugs into our county to sell and deal in our communities. This causes significant harm, particularly on young and vulnerable people, enticing them to get involved in drug dealing or wider criminality.

“This is something we, as a Force, are not going to tolerate and we want to work with the residents of Dorset and our partners to stamp out this organised crime that blights our communities and puts people at harm.

“We’ve seen some impressive results in Dorset during this week of action including a large number of arrests, the dismantling of a suspected cannabis factory worth around £20,000 and the arrest of a man who reportedly had £10,000-worth of drugs on him and I’d like to thank our hard working officers and staff for their efforts.

“We rely on community intelligence so please talk to us – if things are going on in your community or if you see suspicious activity please let us know via our website or by calling 101.

“We will take this fight to the criminals and are determined to be tough on crime and stamp out county lines and drugs activity which has no place in Dorset.”

The initiative was part of wider collaboration activity known as Operation Scorpion between the five police forces in the south west, alongside their respective police and crime commissioners, the British Transport Police, South West Regional Organised Crime Unit (SW ROCU) and the charity Crimestoppers to combine resources and tackle drug supply across the region.

Across the south west, there were a total of 127 arrests, £180,000 of cash seized, £638,000-worth of street value drugs seized, 465 disruptions to drug lines and 237 vulnerable people safeguarded.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said: “I want to thank all the officers and staff from across the partnership who have put in so many hours into making phase two of Operation Scorpion such a success. I know that all of the PCCs share the same objective – to make the whole of the South West region a hostile environment for drug criminality and county lines.

“We know that criminals don’t see county borders and Op Scorpion shows those criminals that we too can work in the same way – put simply - there is no hiding place.

“The Op Scorpion partners will continue to work together - targeting criminality, taking drugs off our streets, sharing intelligence, protecting the vulnerable and putting a ring of steel around the South West.”

Anyone with information about illegal drugs activity should report it via the Dorset Police website or by calling 101. Always call 999 in an emergency.

To pass on information anonymously, speak to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.