In March 2020, restrictions on movement and social contact were imposed across the
UK following the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Many legitimate businesses either closed
their doors entirely or made changes to enable their employees to work from home.
Media reports also began to circulate suggesting that the illicit drugs trade was also
making alternative arrangements for the supply of illegal drugs

Brewster, Ben

Robinson, Grace

Silverman, Bernard

WALSH, Dave

English

Executive summary
In March 2020, restrictions on movement and social contact were imposed across the
UK following the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Many legitimate businesses either closed
their doors entirely or made changes to enable their employees to work from home.
Media reports also began to circulate suggesting that the illicit drugs trade was also
making alternative arrangements for the supply of illegal drugs.
Research conducted for this UKRI Rapid Response
funded project COVID-19 and Child Criminal
Exploitation: Closing Urgent Knowledge and Data Gaps
on the Implications of Pandemic for County Lines sought
to understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
on the County Lines model of illegal drug supply, and
in particular on the resulting criminal exploitation of
children.
In this report we highlight [1] practitioner-perceived
changes and shifts in the County Lines drug supply
model, [2] the impact of pandemic restrictions on
law enforcement activities aimed at tackling County
Lines activity, and [3] the pandemic’s effect on efforts
to support and safeguard children and young people
criminally exploited through County Lines, or at risk
of it.
Overall, our research participants indicated that they
believed that the pandemic had induced shifts to
County Lines that reflected the ongoing evolution of
the drug supply model, in addition to responsive shifts
directly resulting from pandemic restrictions on travel.
Our participants reflected that the pandemic had
caused them to reconsider their understandings of
the modus operandi of offending and behaviour linked
to County Lines, as the pandemic in some cases
foregrounded tactics and practices that were different
from those considered to be (stereo)typical. In our study,
practitioners clearly articulated the impact of Covid-19
restrictions on some young people’s vulnerability to
exploitation, on the way in which police and frontline
practitioners respond to County Lines and CCE, and
on the way in which illegal drugs were being moved
and sold.
The research methodology included
! A review of published sources (including academic
publications, media articles and grey literature)
! Qualitative interviews with 46 practitioners across
England. Participants included:
! practitioners working in frontline (statutory
or non-governmental) service provision with
young people currently or previously exploited
in County Lines, or considered at-risk of
exploitation;
! law enforcement officers with portfolio
responsibility for policing County Lines
and the illegal supply of drugs;
! practitioners from law enforcement,
non-governmental or other statutory bodies
working in analytical roles with responsibility
for County Lines and illegal drug supply.
Interviews conducted with key frontline and analytical
practitioners aimed to understand their experiences
and the way they perceived the impact of the pandemic.
Through our research we aimed to investigate possible
and sudden shifts in perpetrator behaviours, and
the development of new safeguarding and support
challenges related to County Lines and Child Criminal
Exploitation (CCE).
Data collection took place between July 2020 and
September 2021.
We identified several challenges
County Lines supply methods
Law enforcement agencies asserted that while they
believed that the overall volume of County Lines
activity was consistent with pre-pandemic levels,
they had perceived adaptations to the actual supply
methods used by County Lines networks. For instance,
significant reductions in public footfall meant that it
was no longer possible to hide in plain sight on the
country’s rail networks, increasing County Lines’
reliance on moving product by road. Police also
highlighted to us that increased enforcement activity
on the rail networks may have been a factor that drove
this change during the initial months of lockdown.
There were also suggestions that restrictions on travel
may also have increased the risk of some vulnerable
adults having their properties cuckooed and taken over.
Others suggested that exploited young people were
being required to remain in drug market locations for
longer as drugs were being moved at lower frequency,
but in higher quantities. There were also indications
of shifts towards the recruitment and exploitation of
young people already in drug market areas, further
reducing the need for frequent travel.
Other tactics were also highlighted as mechanisms to
avoid detection by law enforcement, such as the use
of supermarket carparks as deal locations, enabling
dealers to co-locate with customer shopping routines
and use keyworker disguises.
Safeguarding capacity
Face-to-face contact between young people and various
professionals was reduced, caused both by a lack of
resources and social distancing restrictions (imposed
to suppress infection rates), often being replaced either
by doorstep or telephone communications. This had
the effect of diminishing professionals’ ability to easily
identify signs of exploitation. School closures also
created challenges, contributing to overall reductions
in referrals for young people potentially at risk of
exploitation, heightening concerns that many young
people were confined to dangerous and exploitative
situations both within and away from their homes.
Exploitation risk
Participants believed that drug supply lines persisted at
pre-pandemic levels as Covid-19 did little to affect the
demand for class-A substances such as heroin and crack
cocaine. This ensured continued demand for young
people to move and distribute drugs on behalf of those
organising the drug supply. Safeguarding practitioners
emphasised these concerns, and suggested young
people were at increased risk of grooming through
social media, as they spent longer online due to school
closures and restrictions on face-to-face social activity.
Concern was also expressed regarding young people’s
mental health, as practitioners began to receive reports
of substance misuse, isolation, and self-harm

Walsh, D.

De Montfort University Open Research Archive

Child Criminal Exploitation and County Lines Drug Distribution: Understanding the Impact of Covid-19

Child Criminal Exploitation: and County Lines drugs distribution: Understanding the impact of Covid-19. Report

https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/2086/21878/1/Covid-19-Vulnerability-and-the-Safeguarding-of-Criminally-Exploited-Children.pdf

Child Criminal Exploitation: and County Lines drugs distribution: Understanding the impact of Covid-19. Report

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De Montfort University Open Research Archive

De Montfort University Open Research Archive