DRUG gangs from London and Liverpool are bringing class A drugs to Dorset as they believe the county is a "soft touch", a top officer has said.

Detective Chief Inspector Pete Little, of Dorset Police, said 'mules' hide packages of lethal drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine on them before travelling to towns including Bournemouth, Blandford, Weymouth and Dorchester.

And once in Dorset, the dealers exploit the vulnerable, sometimes taking over an addict's home and using it as a base for criminal activity in a practice known as 'cuckooing'.

But DCI Little warned that officers will follow dealers back to their cities in a bid to tackle the drugs trade and protect the vulnerable.

"Without a doubt, we've got these groups that are targeting Dorset," he said.

"They are targeting other counties, it's not unique [to Dorset]. We've interviewed some individuals and it's almost as if there's this perception that we might be a bit of a soft touch in terms of our enforcement activity.

"Part of the work we're doing working with our partners is to show that actually we're not a soft touch.

"If you come from out of county to deal drugs in Dorset, we will find you and we will arrest you, and we'll take you to court."

Officers in Dorset are cracking down on dangerous drug networks following on from the success of Op Moped, an initiative targeting drug dealers in Boscombe.

A single undercover officer known as 'Stan' made more than 100 transactions with dealers, leading to tens of arrests.

DCI Little said: "Clearly Op Moped was a really good success for Dorset Police.

"We arrested a lot of people and significant individuals got some significant custodial sentences handed down by the courts, which was good to see."

As part of the work completed by specially-trained constables, drug gangs are "scored" in relation to harm, threat and risk.

Officers are then able to tackle the most dangerous networks operating in the county.

But the detectives also work to safeguard some of the most vulnerable people in Dorset as part of a bid to stop the dealers.

"This is not about criminalising people that take drugs - this is about dealing with the right individuals and it's about protecting people," said DCI Little.

" 'Cuckooing' is a particular tactic that's used by individuals coming from London and Liverpool - people who are controlling the networks.

"They look to get a base in the local area by identifying a vulnerable individual, quite often a drug user themselves, and they will offer that individual free drugs on occasions to let them stay at their property.

"They get in through the door and we end up with locally-based victims - and they are victims - who have these people in their addresses."

DCI Little said some of the most important intelligence work is completed by PCs and PCSOs based in towns and villages.

"It's old-fashioned policing," he said.

"It's knock on the door and speak to people.

"The intelligence picture comes from the local people, local communities, our neighbourhood policing teams - they are the people that gather our intelligence."

DCI Little said the aim is to "disrupt" the so-called 'county lines' - a system organised by organised gangs as part of a bid to extend drug dealing into new locations outside of metropolitan areas.

"It's not just about dealing with the problem locally - we will follow those drug lines back to other areas," he said.

"We will go to London and do warrants, to make sure that the drug networks we have identified, we take them out and we bring that network down."

Recently, officers raided a property in the capital, uncovering a "significant" haul of drugs.

DCI Little said the drugs were "without a doubt destined for the streets of Dorset".

"We're talking hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of drugs that were seized due to us following the line," he said.

"If we've got these lines working in London or in Liverpool, we'll go to London, we'll go to Liverpool.

"Dorset officers will go and do warrants in these locations to protect Dorset people."

DORSET'S police and crime commissioner Martyn Underhill said it is up to communities to help police with 'cuckooed' properties.

"There will be visible changes that the police need to know about," he said.

"People will be coming and going from the address, there will be a lot of unusual activity. It could be that this is to do with sexual exploitation - for example, the address is being used as a brothel - or it could be that this is a 'cuckooed' address and the life of a vulnerable person is being blighted by gangs."

Mr Underhill, a former Detective Chief Inspector who has worked to tackle drug gangs, recently met two victims of 'cuckooing' from Weymouth, both of whom called police themselves.

However, he said many victims won't contact officers themselves.

"The first case of 'cuckooing I heard of here was in rural North Dorset," he said.

"This isn't necessarily an issue that is confined to the conurbation. It's not something that is confined to Boscombe. It's happening in Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth - everyday in Dorset, there is a risk of this sort of activity and everyone needs to be involved in tackling it."