Foreign drug gangs target rural communities, major new report finds

Serious organised criminals including those linked to the international drug trade are increasingly preying on rural communities, a new report has found.

Despite the growing threat of crime facing rural people, campaigners say police forces across the UK are treating it as a small-scale issue, leaving people in the countryside living in fear.

The report from Durham University, commissioned by the National Rural Crime Network in conjunction with several leading rural organisations including the CLA, claims many crimes are committed by ‘prolific rural offenders’, rather than opportunistic individuals, who intentionally victimise rural communities in multiple ways, including through violence and intimidation, during long and sustained criminal careers.