Explosion in county lines drug running gangs

Children as young as 11 are trafficking drugs along more than 2,000 ‘county lines’ around the UK each worth up to £1million, bombshell report reveals

  • New police report reveals just how widespread ‘county lines’ gangs now are
  • Young children and vulnerable adults are bullied and groomed into dealing
  • More than 2,000 drug dealing lines are now being operated around the UK 

Criminal gangs are exploiting children as young as 11 to run lucrative ‘county lines’ drug networks worth nearly £1million a year, a new report warns.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) believes there are now more than 2,000 individual deal line numbers in operation in the UK – more than double the number previously identified.

Analysis by the NCA found an individual line can yield annual profits in excess of £800,000.

The number of people involved in county lines gangs has more than doubled in the last year

Some are estimated to generate thousands of pounds from a single daily delivery trip.

County lines is a drug distribution model which typically involves city gangs branching out into smaller towns or rural areas to sell heroin and crack cocaine.

They deploy children and vulnerable people as couriers to move drugs and cash between the new market and their urban hub.

The name given to the scheme stems from the phone lines used by dealers.

In its fourth annual assessment on the activity, the NCA said the supply of class A drugs through the county lines business model is a ‘significant, national threat’.

The area covered by the Metropolitan Police has the highest percentage of individual deal lines, with 15%, followed by the West Midlands Police (9%) and Merseyside Police (7%) force areas.

Analysis suggests there are currently more than 2,000 individual deal line numbers in the UK – up from 720 in the last assessment.

Commenting on the increase, NCA lead for county lines Nikki Holland told the Commons Home Affairs Committee: ‘This doesn’t necessarily indicate a worsening of the problem.

‘What it actually indicates is an increasing awareness of law enforcement and our partners as to the scale of the problem.’

The agency’s report said the county lines business model thrives on the exploitation of vulnerable adults and children to move and deliver drugs.

Data from 2018 indicates an age range of 11 to 56 for potential victims.

Teenagers between 15 and 17 are believed to make up the bulk of the vulnerable people involved in county lines.

Officers highlighted how offenders establish contact and build relationships with subjects before exploitation takes place.

The analysis said: ‘This means that children may have been approached before the age of 11 in some cases as offenders seek to build a relationship that they can later exploit.’

Gangs often target youngsters who are from poor backgrounds, have been excluded from school, or have previous involvement in crime.

But children from ‘seemingly stable’ backgrounds or without a criminal footprint are also targeted, according to the assessment.

It said offenders carry out recruitment both face-to-face and via social media, offering payments and material possessions victims would be unable to obtain through legal means.

‘This is enhanced by offenders’ use of social media, on which images and videos of cash, designer clothing, luxury cars and other high value goods are posted, creating a misconception that involvement in crime is rewarding,’ the report said.

It also flagged up an ’emerging trend’ around the use of app-based taxi services to transport offenders and potential exploitation victims to supply areas.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Duncan Ball, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for county lines, emphasised the importance of tackling drugs markets ‘from a user perspective’.

He told the Home Affairs Committee: ‘If we were able to collectively reduce the size and demand from that drugs market, then you would find there was no longer as much money for the criminal networks, and as a consequence you would expect the amount of county lines activity, violence and exploitation to then reduce.’

Last year the Lord Chief Justice cited problems related to county lines as he called on wealthy drug users to consider the ‘huge social damage’ linked to their actions.

 

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