County lines (drug trafficking)

In the United Kingdom, the term county lines is a neologism referring to the practice of using children to traffic drugs into rural areas. In 2018, British police stated that they believed there were around 1500 drug trafficking routes of this sort in the United Kingdom.[1] Traffickers recruit vulnerable children, including children in pupil referral units who have been excluded from school, as drug dealers.[2] The practice is also known by those involved as "going country" or "out there".[3]

The UK charity The Children's Society criticises an inconsistent approach by professionals working with children, saying while some police or social workers do view the practice as child exploitation, others treat vulnerable young people as criminals.[4]

In 2018, a drug dealer was convicted of offences under the Modern Slavery Act relating to "county lines" activities.[5]

References

  1. ↑ McGoogan, Cara (2018-10-01). "Airbnb and Uber urged to act on teenage drug mules". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  2. ↑ Rawlinson, Kevin (2018-09-28). "'County lines' drug gangs recruit excluded schoolchildren – report". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  3. ↑ "What It's Really Like 'Going Country'". Vice. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2018-10-01.
  4. ↑ The Children's Society: "What is county lines?".
  5. ↑ "Drug dealer who trafficked children jailed". BBC News. 2018-10-04. Retrieved 2018-10-04.

See also


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