Criminal exploitation includes county lines but also includes children coerced or manipulated into criminal activity. Initial contact can be made via social media and victims can be groomed similarly to sexual exploitation. Young people can be criminally exploited by an adult or a peer.
The relationship is an unequal power imbalance that involves an exchange for tangible rewards (money, drugs or clothes etc.) or intangible rewards (status, protection or perceived friendship). 15-16 years is the most common age range for young people being criminally exploited but this can include young children, this can also affect males and females. Children who are not in regular school or are missing from education are considered to be at increased risk of criminal exploitation.
Children are often groomed or tricked into criminal activity before they realise the dangers. Children can carry drugs in harmful ways, such as ‘plugging’ (drugs inserted into their rectum or vagina). This is one example of how criminal and sexual exploitation can overlap. Another example is the use of sexual violence which is used as punishment.
88% of police forces report county lines activity in their areas with approximately 1,500 county lines nationally. ‘County Lines’ are when individuals or gangs use children to transport and sell drugs, primarily from urban areas into market or coastal towns or rural areas to establish new drug markets or take over existing ones.
They also use children to transport and hide weapons and to secure dwellings of vulnerable people in the area, so that they can use them as a base from which to sell drugs (‘cuckooing’). County Lines involves modern slavery and trafficking as well as exploitation as the adults running the network are removed from the frontline activity of dealing and instead use children. Violence and intimidation are a common feature of County Lines. Increases in knife crime and youth violence can often be an indicator of a county line in a local area. A young person’s family could be threatened as a means of propelling them to ‘work’ for the drug network.
It is important to adopt a welfare approach - children who are criminally exploited are victims of crime and require a multi-agency system that understands their behaviour in the context of trauma, PTSD, mental health vulnerabilities and substance misuse. This will help build trusting and stable relationships between young people and professionals which is essential to effectively safeguard them from this harm.
For many young people who have been criminally exploited, there are ‘reachable moments’, circumstances when a child is more likely to take up offers of support. These include being arrested or seriously wounded. Professionals should capitalise on these moments to effectively safeguard the young person. However, it is important to remember that all young people are ‘reachable’ at any stage of exploitation so we should not not wait for moments when they are more ‘reachable’.
Criminal gangs are targeting the homes of vulnerable people to be used for drug dealing - a process known as “cuckooing” (like the bird that invades other bird’s nests) and victims are often left with little choice but to cooperate.
The following individuals are sometimes targeted for cuckooing:
• Those who suffer from drug and/or alcohol addiction
• Those who are struggling financially
• The elderly
• People with mental health issues
• Individuals with learning disabilities
What to do if you suspect a property is being ‘cuckooed’?
Call Essex Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency to report drug-related information. Please mention ‘Operation Trespass’ and ‘Cuckooing’ when you call.