Only the Daily Record picked up on this from British Transport Police on 6 December 2024:

British Transport Police (BTP) disrupted six County lines, arrested 65 people, and seized in excess of £80,000 in cash during a national County Lines week of action tackling drug supply across England, Scotland and Wales.  The week was coordinated by BTP’s dedicated County Lines Taskforce (CLTF) and the operations featured uniformed and plain clothes officers, dogs trained in passive drug detection and metal detection arches. 

As part of the enhanced activity from Monday 25th November – Sunday 1st December during the national County Lines Intensification Week, 49 operations were conducted across the railway network, with 38 in partnership with local police forces.  Officers deployed at stations and on train services as well as executing several search warrants at various addresses to combat County Lines, making a total of 88 drug seizures, removing 42 weapons from the railway, and seizing 74 mobile phones used for drug supply. 

BTP’s County Lines taskforce (CLTF) works to not only arrest offenders and get drugs off the streets but to prevent people getting drawn into criminality and safeguard those involved who are most vulnerable.  The week saw 21 people receive care and support interventions and they were safeguarded away from the dangers of County Lines. 

The Taskforce worked closely with CPS and secured three further charges under the Modern Slavery Act further demonstrating BTP’s commitment to ensure that children and vulnerable adults are not exploited to carry drugs [often internally] and money on behalf of criminals. Det Supt Craig Payne said: “County Lines criminals cause harm to those using the railway network and our communities. The knives and weapons we’ve seized during this week of action demonstrate the violence we know often goes hand in hand with county lines drug dealing. 

^{https://www.btp.police.uk/news/btp/news/england/british-transport-police-btp-disrupted-six-county-lines-arrested-65-people-and-seized-in-excess-of-80000-in-cash-during-a-national-county-lines-week-of-action-tackling-drug-supply-across-england-scotland-and-wales/}

Neither BTP or the Record make clear that the flow of cheap, powerful, thus deadly drugs is from large English cities into Scotland’s smaller towns.

BBC Scotland’s Highland Cops series, this year, featured, the arrival of illegal drugs into Thurso, Scottish Rail’s most northerly railway station. This series seems to be hermetically sealed off from BBC Scotland News which, to this day, has not mentioned these English drugs gangs since 2021.