'I was a prisoner in my home': Drug gangs 'cuckooing' hundreds of homes a week, police warn

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'I was a prisoner in my home': Drug gangs 'cuckooing' hundreds of homes a week, police warn13 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleSima Kotecha ,Senior UK correspondent ,Jade ThompsonandKatie InmanBBCA drug dealer took over Jackie's home. Now she helps other victims of so-called cuckooingHundreds, if not thousands, of people's homes are being taken over by criminals every week in the UK, usually to store and deal drugs, police chiefs have told the . Perpetrators of so-called cuckooing often target vulnerable people, including the elderly or disabled, by forcing themselves into homes to carry out illegal acts.

In some cases drug users are exploited by gangs who move in and refuse to leave. Cuckooing is not yet a specific criminal offence so there is limited data on how widespread it is. However, figures shared exclusively with the show 1,539 incidents of cuckooing were reported to police in London between May 2025 and April 2026.

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Of those, 1,275 of the victims were male. The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said "horrific things" have happened to victims, who were often trapped in their own homes. "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, told the .

"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 expected to become a specific criminal offence by the end of the year, carrying a maximum five-year prison sentence. It forms part of the Crime and Policing Act 2026, but the government is yet to issue statutory guidance to police forces before the law can be enforced.

Ahead of the implementation of the law change, the accompanied London's Metropolitan Police as officers visited suspected cuckooing properties and witnessed shocking signs of squalor. We also spoke to victims who said they felt like prisoners in their own homes and feared going to the police in case of violent reprisals. Jamie says his head injury made him vulnerable as he felt he could not stand up for himselfJamie, 34, has brain damage after being struck over the head with a glass bottle and, as a result, he struggles to move and speak properly.

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Two years ago, a criminal gang took advantage of his condition by befriending him, before moving into his home without his consent and using his flat as somewhere to sell drugs from. "People went from being really nice and sound to me, to just taking whatever they can," he said. "They robbed my clothes," he added.

"They started taking everything worth taking at my house, like stealing it without you knowing. And when I did realise it was them, they would deny it.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.