Police officers have been appealing for the public to help victims of cuckooing
A plea was made by Devon and Cornwall Police who said it was looking for information to help introduce safeguarding measures in order to “put offenders behind bars”.
Cuckooing is the practice of taking over a household and exploiting the property for criminal purposes such as drug production and dealing.
They said an effective way of dealing with drug crime is to have “the eyes and ears of the public on the streets”.
The title cuckooing comes from the bird of the same namesake, which take over the nests of other birds.
The practise normally involves criminals who takeover the homes of vulnerable people through forceful manipulation to then use the household most commonly as a drug hub.
Police said: “The drug dealer will then offer the victim something of interest to them. This could be a relationship, friendship, drugs, alcohol, money or clothing.
“In exchange, they may ask to ‘borrow’ a room to store something, or meet other ‘friends’ at the property.”
Criminals often target society’s most vulnerable people, including individuals who “experience mental health difficulties or substance misuse, are socially isolated, or who have a learning or physical disability, or illness”.
Police appealed further for the public to be wary for signs of cuckooing, such as an increase of visitors to a property at unsociable hours, suspicious vehicles outside an address and unusual smells.
Insp Dom Nicholls, of Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Whilst numbers remain low, unfortunately, we know that cuckooing does happens across our communities.
“Our officers are working closely with partner agencies, including the local council, to identify and support victims of cuckooing, which is proving successful.
“However, we still need the support of our local communities to help us identify other possible victims of cuckooing which we may not know about.”
One woman from Dundee shared her experiences as a victim of cuckooing as she was kept a prisoner in her home for weeks and tied up by a couple she had come to trust.
Related links:
She said: “The lady was sitting with a knife at my throat, and said if I didn’t hand over the bank card, then I was getting my throat slashed.
“Or if it didn’t take the pipe, then I would get a punch or whatever.
“I was too frightened to tell the police, I didn’t know what to do.”
The woman divulged further on the traumatic experience.
She said: “I really thought they were going to kill me because they were force-feeding me crack cocaine.
“I was hallucinating, and I couldn’t say no because I was bound and force fed it.”
She added: “I was too frightened to try and leave the house.
“If my door was locked, they would burst the door wide open. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, just didn’t know what to do.”
The city of Dundee saw 52 cases of cuckooing just in the last year.
