Parents warned about Snapchat ads tricking kids into becoming drug runners for County Lines gangs

Parents have been warned by police over dangerous Snapchat ads enticing kids to become drug mules for County Lines gangs.

The social media ads have been found offering up to £500 for those willing to sell drugs over a weekend and work in exchange for cellphones, vapes and clothes.

Police have gone to schools to outline the risky business at work in the app, which sees drug couriers using children to transport guns, cocaine, heroin and cannabis across the UK.

The Evening Standard reports that County Lines gangs have used the social media platform as one of their main recruitment tools.

Speaking to the publication, Detective Chief Inspector Dan Mitchell, head of Scotland Yard’s County Lines Task Force, said it was a “tough” matter to tackle.

Parents have been warned by police over dangerous Snapchat ads enticing kids to become drug mules for County Lines gangs. The social media ads were found to be offering up to £500 for those willing to sell drugs over a weekend and work in return for mobile phones, vapes and clothes (file photo).

“We’re working with schools to build resilience in young people,” he said, “that’s the way forward to give them the knowledge that this is a trap.”

He added that the risk of children becoming involved in the system makes them extremely vulnerable, as county lines are “inseparable from serious violence and even murder.”

DCI Mitchell continued, “County Lines networks prey on, displace and subject children and young people to modern day slavery that involves horrific emotional and physical abuse.

“Victims are forced to hold and supply drugs through violence, extortion and debt bondage. Those involved use weapons and severe violence, including kidnapping, to intimidate and threaten the victims.’

The publication reports that raids between February 27 and March 5 found 8.3kg of Class A drugs, 37.6kg of Class B drugs and over £650,000 in cash.

It comes after a report by the Commission on Young Lives found children as young as nine have been coerced by county line drug gangs to pressure their grandmothers into becoming drug mules because they look less suspicious.

The organization, which targets vulnerable children to protect them from criminalization and violence, said it knows of cases where young children have felt compelled to involve their grandparents in order to please gang leaders.

Criminals are often said to threaten to harm the child’s family if they refuse a request or attempt to withdraw from the operation.

The harrowing description is just a small part of a final report by the commission, which found that using elementary school children to traffic drugs is now “the norm” for criminal gangs.

County line gangs use the social media platform as one of their main recruiting tools. Speaking to the publication, Detective Chief Inspector Dan Mitchell, head of Scotland Yard’s County Lines Task Force, said it was a “tough” matter to tackle

The report found that the UK government is “failing” in its duty to protect young people: “There are parts of our country where the state is completely failing in its duty to protect vulnerable children.

“This goes beyond the failure of individuals. It’s a failure affecting whole communities, generation after generation.” It added that the problems pose a “menace”. [the UK’s] prosperity and security.”

Once children have been “grafted” into criminal activity there is little choice as they are “controlled” by the gang, many of which are now run by teenagers.

It comes as government figures revealed that up to 200,000 children in England between the ages of 11 and 17 are believed to be vulnerable to serious violence.

There were 11,600 cases involving gangs and 10,140 involving the exploitation of children by criminals.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk