PUPILS as young as seven are being targeted by county line gangs and exploited as “child soldiers” after being recruited on social media and video games, an investigation has claimed.
Sadly, what was once a far distanced dystopian concern has already become a horrific reality for teachers and in some UK areas.
Gangs have found ways to use social media apps to their advantage Credit: Getty
Junior Smart warned users over ‘get rich quick’ videos Credit: Supplied
Over in the town of Bridgwater, Somerset, lies a criminal network, which has already affected the curriculum, according to .
One school has resorted to desperate measures and summoned the help of charity, Escapeline, which supports the prevention of sexual and grooming of young people in the South West.
As part of the prevention session, children were shown shocking props which included a Kinder egg, which could be used to store Class A such as crack cocaine. A mobile phone and a fake knife was also sprawled on the table.
The headteacher told the Mail: “We’ve seen it in Year Six but we’ve also seen much younger children – Key Stage One (ages five-to-seven) – being drawn into it without understanding what they’re doing.”
Is your child involved?
COMMON signs your child may be involved in county lines include:
- Having multiple sim cards or mobile phones, and mobiles that keep pinging or ringing.
- You find crack or heroin – it us very rare for a child to be a user.
- Your child has drug paraphernalia, lubricants or other items used to conceal drugs.
- You find packaging including pill boxes, lottery tickets and light and dark papers (light for crack cocaine and dark for heroin).
- You notice train tickets, keys or hotel passes, and your child goes missing for several days at a time.
- Your youngster has large amounts of money with no explanation.
- They have age-gap friendships with older kids or adults who take them away to “work”.
Stabbing survivor Sosa was lured into the drug world at nine-years-old and said he was shaped into a “child soldier”.
From young, he was stabbed more than eleven times and was even branded by an iron. By age eleven, he was shown how to operate a firearm, he said.
Revealing the shocking way he was taught about drugs, he told the Mail: “I was introduced to drugs as colours. This is white. This is dark. If you can understand colours, you can sell drugs.”
Sosa, who is now a youth mentor for modern slavery charity Causeway, shared how he has spotted children aged seven or eight selling drugs without even knowing they were doing it.
He claimed sites such as Snapchat can easily assist recruiters. He added: “Snapchat is like a job ad. They brand it as “Easy money – just swipe up’’.’
The app also has a feature called ‘Snap Maps’, which can easily display someone’s exact location. This, combined with its large ‘friends networks’, could help county line gangs find the perfect recruit.
The friends network is capped at 10,000 people, which means people could connect with a wide range of users. Other social workers suggested that many social networking sites have easy messaging features, which means anyone can reach out to someone they don’t know.
Features such as ‘Snap Maps’ can reveal a young person’s exact location, too. Coupled with these large ‘friend networks’, it’s easy for gang members to make contact – sometimes by targeting specific individuals, or by casting messages widely and waiting for those most vulnerable to respond.
Sadly, Snapchat is not the only method of concern. He shared that young people can be contacted via and even Roblox.
According to the youth worker, characters could be in close reach of gang recruiters.
Another youth worker, named Junior Smart, OBE, issued a warning about the dangers of social media.
Junior, who works at St Giles’ Trust, stressed how social media algorithms will direct children to content that encourages them to earn money through the drugs trade.
He shared how by just liking a few of these accounts boasting ‘get rich quick content’, saw his TikTok feed transformed into videos of drugs and wads of cash.
He came across a string of videos of young men posing with tonnes of cash, designer gear and flash watches.
“It’s being presented as an influencer-type lifestyle,” he said.
Detective Superintendent Dan Mitchell, Head of the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC), told The Sun. “Sadly, the grooming of children is a key feature of County Lines criminality, and social media has undoubtedly exacerbated this issue, making it easier for ruthless gangs to exploit them.
“Tackling the violence and exploitation linked to county lines is a priority for policing, and we are relentless in our pursuit of perpetrators.
“Since the Home Office-funded County Lines Programme was established, we have closed more lines, charged more violent offenders, and safeguarded more children and adults at risk of grooming, exploitation, and other harms than ever before.
“During the latest County Lines Intensification Week alone, almost 800 children were safeguarded.
“In addition, more than 2,000 arrests were made and vast quantities of harmful drugs and weapons were removed from our streets.
“Officers also focused on disrupting ongoing exploitation and identifying potential young victims to protect them from future harm.
“As county lines gangs’ methods evolve, so too does our policing approach – led by the National County Lines Coordination Centre (NCLCC).
“But policing cannot tackle this issue alone.
“We continue to work closely with partners such as Catch22 and The Children’s Society to prevent young people from being drawn into high‑harm criminality and to support those already being exploited.
“Social media platforms also have a responsibility to help protect their young users and play an important role in tackling this heinous crime.”
The Sun has contacted TikTok, Snapchat and Roblox for a comment
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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