Dr Michael Wyness from the Centre for Education Studies comments on the use of children in county drug lines and says drug trafficking is not the only thing they are vulnerable to.

"Networks of the distribution and consumption of illegal drugs are a common feature of small scale organised crime within large cities in the UK. The national picture suggests a significant decrease in the level of these activities in recent years.

"However, what has become more apparent in recent years is the expansion of ‘county lines’, criminal drug networks connecting city to rural and small town areas, often held together by teenage runners, who distribute the drugs from the cities into outlying areas. Children usually from deprived backgrounds are groomed and exploited to carry out the distribution of drugs across ‘county lines’.

"Recent research from the National Crime Agency suggests that children involved in county lines are sometimes trafficked from urban to rural areas in order to distribute the drugs and are also much more vulnerable to sexual abuse."

ENDS

12 AUGUST 2019

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager - Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221 or +44 (0) 2476 574 55
E-mail: alice.j.scott@warwick.ac.uk

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Alice Scott
Media Relations Manager - Science
University of Warwick
Tel: +44 (0) 7920 531 221 or +44 (0) 2476 574 55
E-mail: alice dot j dot scott at warwick dot ac dot uk