Safety advice and support about Going Country or Going OT

When young people are used by older people, criminals or gang members to carry out criminal activity, professionals call this Criminal Exploitation.

This might include:

• Carrying weapons or money
• Carrying or selling drugs
• Carrying out robberies or violent acts

When older people, criminals, or gang members befriend young people and manipulate them into moving and selling drugs across the country.

It often involves the illegal movement of drugs from urban areas to smaller towns, or rural areas.

Professionals call this County Lines – the ‘lines’ refer to the mobile phone lines that are used.

County Lines is a form of criminal exploitation.

There are many ways people might be lured and trapped into exploitation.

Young people are often targeted in fast food restaurants, shopping centres, parks and estates.

People are also targeted online, on social media platforms such as Tik Tok, gaming platforms and online marketplaces.

Sometimes, young people may seek out this work themselves, not knowing that this may turn into an exploitative situation.

For all these reasons, it is very important to be aware of the risks involved, and the support available.

Sense of belonging – You may be attracted to joining a friendship group that are involved in criminal activities such as drug dealing and weapons, by the prospect of belonging to a ‘family’ that will protect you if your own family doesn’t feel safe or reliable.

• Although it might seem like these people are protecting you now, they might expect you to do things in return which you don’t feel comfortable doing.
• Once you are part of this ‘family’, they might try to trap you, by making you feel unable to leave.

Glamorisation– People are drawn in by images of a certain lifestyle, such as money, cars, and shoes, often bragged about on social media.

• You may see this as a way out of a difficult financial situation, or a way of helping your own family financially.
• However, staged muggings are a common control method used by perpetrators- you might be trusted with something valuable, which will then be stolen from you. These new friends, or ‘family’, will become angry and violent and tell you that you need to pay back the money for the items – by doing more work for them.
• This could mean you will never end up making any money and will spend long periods of time paying back what was stolen.
• Young people can be taken to locations far from home for long periods of time. Often, people are forced to stay in unfamiliar places like hotels, BnBs and Trap Houses or Bando’s, which are buildings used to sell or make drugs and are often occupied by drug users.

Grooming – grooming happens when someone builds a trusted relationship with a young person in order to manipulate them or try and get them to do things.

• These things can be sexual, financial, or illegal acts.
• You can be groomed both online and in person.
• Perpetrators may buy you gifts such as trainers, gadgets, and food in order to make you feel special.
• This may lead to you feeling a sense of belonging, and feeling as though you are loved, or part of a family.
• You can also be groomed into what they believe is a romantic relationship, which then leads to exploitation.
• After a while, this relationship often becomes toxic, and that person you thought was looking out for you might start to use threatening or violent behaviour, sexual violence, or blackmail.
• Criminals often know you could be feeling like you have no one or no sense of belonging and will target people in this situation.

Perpetrators of these crimes are dishonest people. They often use tactics to make people feel trapped, controlled, and like they have no way out.

This might be by threats of violence, making you feel like you are betraying your new ‘family’, or telling you that you will get in trouble if you seek help because you have committed a criminal offence.

Threats of violence – Gang members will often use threats of violence to the young person and their family members, to prevent them from leaving or telling anyone about what has happened.

Psychological pressure – perpetrators will tell you that it is too late to back out or get help, as you have committed crimes and will be arrested. However, there is support available for people in your situation, and you will be treated as a victim and not a criminal.

Staged Muggings and Sexual Abuse are other tactics that perpetrators use to make people feel like they can’t leave or get help.

As well as young people being used to transport drugs, perpetrators might sexually exploit young people, of any gender.

Sexual abuse is when someone is forced, pressured, or tricked into taking part in any kind of sexual activity. It could be online or in person, and it can happen to anyone.

People exploited by county lines or criminal exploitation may be forced into sexual activity with their new ‘friends’, or members of gangs.

You may have heard of the terms ‘plugging’ or ‘bagging’ before. This is when drugs are inserted into the bum or vagina. It can be very dangerous and is now considered a form of sexual abuse.

Young people can also be made to work off drug debts, or debts from forced muggings through sexual exploitation, as ‘payment’.

Perpetrators sometimes force young people to open new bank accounts or use existing bank accounts and then transfer money earned from drugs or criminal activity into these accounts.

This can result in bank accounts being shut down, and young people being unable to set up new accounts when they need them, for jobs or to pay bills.

Money made from the kind of criminal activity mentioned above can be taken away at any point – either by the police, by bank accounts being shut down or through robberies.

Money made from crime can’t be used to save up for important things in life, such as bills, essential items, a house or holidays. This is because this is money which has been made illegally, and there are laws and checks in place to prevent this.

If you or your family are struggling financially, never feel pressured to get involved in criminal activity. Reach out to a teacher, youth worker, any of the organisations listed above, or anybody else that you trust, to ask for help.