Victims are being bullied into sharing their homes with violent gangs who force them to hide drugs and weapons in a vile practice known as ‘cuckooing’
Terrifying drugs gangs are taking over the homes and lives of users around the country, threatening them and their families with violence if they try to resist.
Thousands of victims are being bullied by crooks who move into their houses and force them to store drugs and weapons. Police have warned the elderly and disabled are often prime targets for this vile practice known as cuckooing.
Cuckooing is not yet a specific criminal offence so there is limited data on how widespread it is, but police believe it is a growing problem across the UK.
Figures shared with the BBC show 1,539 incidents of cuckooing were reported to police in London between May 2025 and April 2026. Of those, 1,275 of the victims were male. The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said “horrific things” have happened to victims, who tried to resist.
“We’ve had cases where they’ve been forced to eat dog excrement or perform sexual acts, and those will be recorded and then used as a form of blackmail for the perpetrator to say ‘if you don’t do as I say, then ultimately we’ll share this with friends and we’ll put this on social media’,” the NPCC’s Kirsten Dent said.
“It’s hidden and in people’s homes, it’s not always easy to detect.”
Cuckooing – named after cuckoos, who frequently take over other birds’ nests to lay their own eggs – is now on the police radar. Chiefs are now pushing for it to become a criminal offence by the end of the year, carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence for those who do it.
Already some courts are trying to stop it from happening. In one flat block in Blackpool, cuckooing is such an issue, that in March, Preston Magistrates’ Court granted an order dictating that only residents, emergency workers and support staff should be allowed into the block where one known victim lives.
But within just a month, an investigation found the practice was very much still a problem. One victim said: “It feels like these people can do whatever they want and there’s nobody to stop them.
“You’re terrified to report them because they are so violent and, when you do, nothing seems to happen.”
Cuckooing first came to attention when it featured in police drama Line Of Duty in 2021 when Down’s Syndrome character Terry Boyle, played by actor Tommy Jessop, had his home taken over by an organised crime gang who hid a dead body in his freezer.
Residents have had enough of the drugs and anti-social behaviour in Blackpool. One told The Sun who investigated the flat block: “I leave the security door open now. It is the only way we can get any peace.
“It is chaos here. People coming and going at all hours of the day. And if they can’t get in, they scream and shout and bang on doors and windows.
“They are desperate to get in. I want the council to find me somewhere else.
“They put the notice up saying people couldn’t come in and they took no notice. They just ripped it down. The man in the flat has mental health problems and they are just exploiting him. He is vulnerable.”
Cuckooing victims spoke out about what happens if they try to say no. One even had their tongue cut for “talking too much” and another victim added: “I was dabbling a bit in drugs and my mental health was really bad.
“My dealer just moved in one day, just like that. He told me he’d hurt my family if I didn’t do what he said. I was really, really scared.
“They just do whatever they want and there’s big guys behind them so it’s very frightening. In the end, my brother came in and took me away and I’m now clean.”
A spokesman for Blackpool Council said: “We use all the tools at our disposal to disrupt crimes like cuckooing.
“Closure Orders can halt anti-social and illegal activities while we support tenants and neighbours, often stopping it altogether.
“In some cases, tenants accept support, and sometimes people choose to move on. Our efforts don’t stop with a Closure Order, though.
“In these particular cases, police and neighbourhood teams have made multiple arrests when the orders have been flouted.
“We will continue to work with police, housing teams and tenants to resolve these issues.”