Case Study of County Lines: Jo’s Story

County lines is the selling of illegal drugs by organised criminal gangs in different areas of the UK. ‘Lines’ refers to the phone lines used to control victims and people who deliver to the sellers and the sellers themselves. Many of the people who transport and supply drugs around the country are minors, who have been exploited and manipulated to supply drugs. Minors or children, whose ages range from 10 to 18, are befriended by the criminal gangs, outside schools and on the streets of the UK. Vulnerable adults are also used as drug runners and sellers and once forced by the gangs are unable to get themselves out of this. They may also be groomed and manipulated online.