Police have issued an urgent warning as young children are targeted by gangs with the promise of gaming tokens, money and vapes.
Data from British Transport Police reveals that almost one in five teenage boys, aged between 13 and 19 in the North West have themselves, or known someone, who has been offered work by drug suppliers.
The youngest boy was just 13 and was being used by a couple to courier drugs around as part of their criminal organisation. Messages sent to young teenagers, luring them in, included "who wants to make £500 this weekend?"
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It comes as a new campaign is launched today in the hopes of countering drug dealer's attempts to groom, manipulate and seduce children into the drug trade. The ‘Don’t Take the Bait’ Snapchat campaign highlights the tactics drug gangs use to coerce and exploit teens, and will target teenage boys in Liverpool, Birmingham and London.
BTP’s dedicated County Lines Taskforce routinely encounter young and vulnerable people on the railway who have been exploited by gangs to carry drugs between locations The force is urging parents to speak to their children about the tactics county lines drug gangs use to hook them into a life of fear, violence and scams.
Detective Superintendent Gareth Williams, BTP’s County Lines Taskforce lead, said: "It’s not uncommon for my dedicated teams to encounter children on the railway who are being exploited to traffic drugs. Supported by safeguarding experts, a key priority of ours is to identify these victims and pull them out of harm’s way.
"The youngest person we’ve found being exploited in county lines activity was a boy aged 13, in that case the couple controlling him to courier drugs were jailed for over 12 years. We’re relentless in our pursuit of these heartless human traffickers, and we are utilising modern slavery legislation to ensure they serve adequately lengthy jail terms."
Drug gangs are known to offer money, mobile phones, gaming tokens, vapes and clothing in exchange for what they present as a ‘business opportunity’. Social media messages sent by drug suppliers to teenagers seen by BTP include, "who wants to make £500 this weekend?" and "who wants overtime?".
Since the Taskforce was setup with Home Office funding in late 2019 to tackle county lines activity on the railway, it has made 2,250 arrests and thousands of vital safeguarding interventions, including 115 referrals into the national referral mechanism for safeguarding.
Of those arrested, 40% have been under the age of 19, however only one in five have been criminalised, BTP said. Anyone who has information or concerns is urged to contact police or anonymously through the charity fearless.org.
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