Airbnb and a free lunch: how county lines drug gangs lure teenagers

‘Glamorous’ criminal networks promising easy money are posing a serious challenge for social services

When Carlie Thomas arrived in a seaside town in the south of England, she wondered if she was in the wrong place. She was there to support young people affected by county lines, but the group of 22 boys she was working with, aged 12 to 17, were all close friends who did not show any obvious signs of exploitation and abuse. She called the head office at St Giles Trust in London, where she is a senior caseworker, to suggest going elsewhere.

“I wondered whether we were in the wrong spot,” she said. “But then we had some clients tell us that they’ve been robbed and that they owed money. And, not long after that, other youngsters started disclosing.”

What does the term ‘county lines’ mean?

We’re seeing young people who are not known to services at all being drawn in

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2I7uqgI