What does "cuckooing" or "cuckoos" mean?
I´m reading an english text and I don´t find the meaning of that words in any dictionary. I´m putting here a piece of text to understand in what context I have read it.

"There are many rewards for "cuckooing". The gangs are able to operate from an unobtrusive flat out of sight of the police and use it to deal and manufacture drugs in a safe environment. Once the gangs are using the properties for criminal enterprises, their inhabitants are terrified of going to the police for fear they will be suspected of drug-dealing, which would cause their expulsion."

Thanks to everyone.
Cheers.
Silvia.

Question

What does "cuckooing" or "cuckoos" mean?
I´m reading an english text and I don´t find the meaning of that words in any dictionary. I´m putting here a piece of text to understand in what context I have read it.

"There are many rewards for "cuckooing". The gangs are able to operate from an unobtrusive flat out of sight of the police and use it to deal and manufacture drugs in a safe environment. Once the gangs are using the properties for criminal enterprises, their inhabitants are terrified of going to the police for fear they will be suspected of drug-dealing, which would cause their expulsion."

Thanks to everyone.
Cheers.
Silvia.

Answer

Hmm...I hadn't heard about it either; I suspected that it had something to do with taking over abandoned houses and setting up a drug den or something. Apparently, it's worse than that. It's when a dealer befriends a vulnerable person (such as the elderly or a troubled person) in order to take over his house and set up shop. The vulnerable person becomes trapped in the situation where he is forced to sell drugs. At the same time, he is reluctant to report the activity to the police because it is happening in his own house, and he is implicated in the criminal enterprise.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cuckooing

Answer

Hi Silvia
I think cuckooing  is used as a colloquialism or an analogy to describe what the gang is doing. A cuckoo lays it's eggs in another bird's nest, so basically tje gang are selling their "eggs"  (the drugs) from other people's homes. I hope this helps.

Answer

it's correct. I work in the justice system

Answer

Thank you very much Lena!! :)

Answer

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cuckoo
(noun) a type of bird that lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and that has a call that sounds like its name.
(adjective)
1)silly or crazy
-They told me that he's a little cuckoo. [=nutty]
 -a cuckoo idea
2)very enthusiastic: I'm not cuckoo [=(more commonly) wild, crazy] about the idea.
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'Cuckooing' is the term used to describe the practice where professional drug dealers take over the property of a vulnerable person and use it as a place from which to run their drugs business.
http://www.bedfordshire.police.uk/tackling_crime/drugs/drugs_cuckooing.aspx