County lines
County Lines is where young people or vulnerable adults are used by criminal gangs to move drugs from one area to another.
A County Line is the mobile phone given to the victim to take orders of drugs. As a victim you might be used to transport drugs a short distance across a town, or you could be sent on a long journey via public transport. You can be exposed to some extremely dangerous situations, including drug use, using weapons and physical or sexual abuse.
You could be tempted in with the promise of friendship, belonging to a group and expensive gifts, but once you become involved, it can be very difficult to escape. You might be told you have a debt to pay off by carrying out more work and if you don’t do it, you could face threats or violence.
What are the signs?
When you first get involved in County Lines, you might not see yourself as a victim or realise you are being exploited. The signs that you, or a younger person you know, could be involved with County Lines include:
- Suddenly having lots of money
- Having new things, such as expensive clothes or trainers
- Using drugs and/or alcohol
- Carrying a weapon
- Going missing from home, being absent from school or staying out late
- Having new friends who are older than you and ignoring old friendships
- Having unexplained bruises or other injuries
What Could Happen?
The victims of County Lines are the ones most at risk of being caught. It is possible to make a defence that you are the victim of exploitation rather than acting as a criminal of your own free will, but obviously there is a high chance of getting a criminal record.
Anyone who is part of a gang could also be arrested for crimes they commit, even if you did not take part in it. This is called the law of joint enterprise.
Being involved in a gang puts you at high risk of being hurt or sexually abused. You are mixing in a world of violent crime, knives and guns and there’s a very real danger of being seriously injured, or even killed. The people you work for might use violence to make you continue committing crimes for them, or they might threaten your family. You could also be forced into sexual activity to pay off your debt.
You might find yourself using drugs and alcohol, which can cause you serious physical and mental harm. You could become addicted to drugs and criminal gangs might use this to make you work more for them, by offering drugs as payment.
Gangs sometime arrange for you to be robbed while you are carrying their drugs or money, then tell you that you owe them for the loss and have to do more work for them.