STARTLING figures from the British Transport Police reveals half of teenage boys in the West Midlands have been exposed to drugs – either being offered or sold them.
The data also suggests 23 per cent of boys aged between 13 and 19 in the region have been offered work by drug suppliers.
To counter attempts to groom, manipulate and seduce children into the drug trade, BTP has launched an all-new campaign.
The ‘Don’t Take the Bait’ digital campaign highlights the tactics drug gangs use to coerce and exploit teens, and will target 13 to 15-year-old boys.
Drug offer casg, mobile phones, gaming tokens, vapes and clothing for their ‘business opportunities’.
Social media messages sent by drug suppliers to teenagers seen by BTP include, ‘who wants to make £500 this weekend?’ and ‘who wants overtime?’.
BTP’s dedicated County Lines Taskforce routinely encounters young and vulnerable people on the railway who have been exploited by gangs to carry drugs between locations.
The force is urging parents to speak to their children about the tactics county lines drug gangs use to hook them into a life of fear, violence and scams.
Since 2019, when the taskforce was set up with Home Office funding, 2,250 arrests have been made and there have been thousands of vital safeguarding interventions.
Of those arrested, 40 per cent were under 19, however only one in five (20 per cent) have been criminalised.
Anyone with information on those exploiting young people through drugs can visit the anonymous fearless.org website and submit the details.
