County lines / drug dealer

[Givemethesun]

Very naive here. Obviously I hear the term county lines and see it in the news but I’ve been reading up on it tonight. I knew some people caught up in drug dealing were obviously there because they were manipulated / controlled as they were vulnerable and / or children. However I suppose I hadn’t thought about it, but if I had I think I’d always assumed that most of the end drug dealer selling drugs on the ground had the option to walk away once they’d earnt what they wanted or had had enough. What I’ve read tonight makes it sound like actually people caught up in drug dealing will find it very difficult to ever leave the cycle as they were manipulated into being there in the first place ….. Is this the case or is it ever possible for an on the ground drug dealer to walk away? If this is the case it’s absolutely horrific as there must be so many young people exploited and they’ll be stuck for the rest of their lives?

As above appreciate that I am in the very fortunate position that I am very naive.

Kids get caught in drug debts - either because they get arrested in possession of drugs or through being robbed, sometimes (often) organised by their own ‘employers’. Once you’re in debt to your ‘employer’, it’s hard to get out of that trap.

The younger a child is, the more chance there is of social care and police interventions helping them. Once they’re 16/17, much harder.

Wait until you figure out the reason for all the violence in (the port that is) Liverpool....

The higher ups won’t let a “good earner” go easily. They get them in debt to them, threaten their families etc. The only kids who get out are the ones whose parents can move them away, far out of area.

We have a lot of issues in our area. My ds was approached age 16, while in a take away. Man chatting to him for ages, asking where his parents were and why he was in the take away - “where’s your Mum, doesn’t she cook for you that you have to be getting food here? That’s not right, want to come and meet my mates and get some food?” DS is autistic and was absolutely petrified. Luckily I was only in the shop next door and came in to hear DS saying, “here’s my Mum now…”. The bloke looked really pissed off and angrily threw his empty food trays in the bin and stalked out. I mentioned it in passing to his college one to one and she said immediately “County Lines, don’t let him go there on his own again”. They have been on training courses so they can spot if any of their students are involved.

@WithTheHatToMatch that sounds horrific, I didn’t appreciate that “employers” would rob to cause a debt.

@Woush I will have a read. I feel stupidly naive.

@BethDuttonsTwin so sorry that this happened to your ds. It sounds awful and absolutely terrifying that this happens.

I will have a read. I feel stupidly naive

Lots of drugs enter the country through Liverpool. There's county lines (moving drugs around the country) but moving drugs between nations is much, much bigger shit.

The gang culture in the area is lead by drug movement and dealing. You may remember Olivia Pratt-Korbel, 9 year old girl getting shot on the doorstep in Liverpool when dome random ran into her home? The underlying reason for that death was drug dealing.

Watch top boy and summerhouse fascinating and true to life

The more you read of the topic the more terrifying it is. The key is to do as the previous poster did and get your child away at the first sign. It’s so vital that you know who your child is associating with all the time.

Very difficult for them to get out of it without serious harm and harassment. I’ve looked after many teens who are in the care system, and have been moved across the country for their own safety. Even though they are scared witless they still have a loyalty and a sense of belonging to the people who exploited them. It’s heartbreaking.

I teach in an inner-London primary school in a very deprived area. All of the above is correct. The 'mechanic' is often to strike up conversation and build trust/do the child a favour eg buy them some fast food. Next they ask them to meet their friends. Then they call in the favour - often a package that needs to be delivered. This delivery is often interfered with/'stolen' (arranged by the gang) to create a debt. And so on and so forth.

Worth knowing also that this isn't just impacting secondary school children. In my school, a just-turned 10 year old was approached in the park and given a package to take home. The child wasn't allowed to leave the park until they accepted the parcel. And in that package was a knife. It's bloody terrifying.

The only option - get out of the area and as far away from the gang as possible. They are relentless.

Watch Alfie's story on youtube.
It's a bit dated now

It not just cities now it's small wealthy towns and not just deprived kids but middle class kids.

Local retail parks and fast food outlets on motorways control supply into a county then distributed -its horrendous.

It now refers to as CCE child criminal exploitation.

It all sounds absolutely horrific. Especially exploiting young people or children.

@GingerFoxInAT0phat Can gangs not find individuals across country or they’re more likely to give up?

@cherrypied thank you I’ll take a look

@BethDuttonsTwin

"The higher ups won’t let a “good earner” go easily. They get them in debt to them, threaten their families etc. The only kids who get out are the ones whose parents can move them away, far out of area."

Why would they need parents who can move them?
Surely the state is obliged to relocate them if it is necessary for their safety.

@Givemethesun

"Can gangs not find individuals across country or they’re more likely to give up?"

Unless a persons address appears in publicly available information ( electoral role, phone book, social media, companies house, ect ) or there is a mutual contact who knows where they have gone or they relocate to somewhere close enough for a chance sighting to happen or they hide a tracking device on some property they are likely to take with them then finding out where someone has moved to is actually rather difficult.

Credit record companies ( Experian, Equifax and TransUnion ) are able to keep track of peoples current addresses because they get information from lots of commercial transactions - everything from utility bills to phone contracts and there are certain laws which allow them to disclose debtors addresses to creditors but this is highly regulated.

The only thing a gang might be able to do is get a corrupt employee inside an organisation that has their address to disclose it.