3 days ago
Gangsters who force children to hide drugs in their bodies face 10-year sentence
Gang members who force children to conceal drugs in their bodies will face up to 10 years in jail under a new offence.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, is to create an offence of 'coerced internal concealment' to protect children who are exploited by gangs to carry drugs, money and SIM cards in their bodies in an attempt to hide them from police.
The offence will be created through an amendment to Labour's Crime and Policing Bill to cut down on the practice, which is widely used by county lines and other gangs to transport drugs.
The Home Office said the concealment method relied on gang members forcing or deceiving children and vulnerable adults into ingesting or hiding items inside bodily cavities.
It warned that this was an 'extremely dangerous' practice because people could die if the drug packages broke open inside the body. It could also cause significant physical and psychological harm to those forced to do it.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Where senior gang figures are found to have coerced other individuals to ingest or carry specified items inside their bodies, they will face up to 10 years behind bars.'
'Truly evil'
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, said: 'There is something truly evil about the gang leaders who degrade young girls, young boys and vulnerable adults in this way, forcing them to put their lives at risk.
'This new offence will go alongside other measures in our landmark Crime and Policing Bill to turn the tables on the gang leaders and hold them to account for exploiting children and vulnerable adults.
'As part of our Plan for Change, this Government will give police and prosecutors the powers they need to dismantle these drug gangs entirely and secure convictions that reflect the severity of these crimes.'
£42m to tackle county lines
The Government has invested £42 million into a specific programme to tackle county lines gangs, which operate by transporting drugs often via train 'lines' from major cities or urban areas and selling them in other parts of the country.
Since July last year, 1,200 county lines have been shut down and 2,000 people arrested, including more than 800 violent offenders controlling the drug operations.
There were also more than 2,100 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people.
The Government's county lines programme provides specialist support for children and young people to escape the drugs trade.
More than 320 children and young people have received dedicated specialist support since July last year. This can include one-to-one casework for young people and their families to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit.
The offence may be committed against victims of all ages. It will criminalise any case where a child is intentionally caused to internally conceal, and where an adult is coerced, compelled, controlled, manipulated or deceived into internally concealing a specified item for any criminal purpose.
