The police, who want to reinforce the message that drug dealers are not welcome in Surrey, have sent out a warning after recent months which showed that children and vulnerable locals were being exploited and used as drug runners.

Officers found 35 bags of cocaine on one man in Woking. More than 150 officers carried out raids across the Woking borough in a police crackdown on drug gangs there were 13 arrest warrants issued. Surrey Police said it carried out the raids in the early hours of Wednesday morning (November 21) to "combat organised crime groups supplying drugs".

Police said they are tackling the use of drug networks exploiting children as young as 12 and using them as drug runners in Surrey. They are recruited by older individuals with offers of large sums of cash, mobile phones, drugs and alcohol. They are threatened with the fear of violence if they try to leave. Surrey police is visiting local schools to educate young people on the dangers and consequences of using drugs and patrolling ’hot spot’ areas.

The police are urging Surrey locals to be vigilant and are asking them to report any suspicious activity they see to them straight away. Officers are proactively deterring criminals travelling from outside the county under Operation Viking to disrupt cross-county border drug dealing and associated violence across east Surrey. So far the team have secured more than 184 years’ custodial sentences for all convictions under this initiative.