County Lines gangs adapting to lockdown according to Nottingham Uni study

An on-going study from experts at Nottingham Uni has found that criminals working for County Lines drug supply networks have been using disguises to evade the police during lockdown.

County Lines gangs transport drugs from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries, usually using children or vulnerable people coerced and controlled by gangs.

The locally conducted research found that people used by the gangs were dressing up as delivery drivers, supermarket staff, builders and even healthcare workers to appear to be travelling legitimately during lockdown.

The work by the Nottingham Uni's Rights Lab also found that face masks provided criminals with a higher level of anonymity. However, there were some aspects of the pandemic which benefited the police including a reduced number of passengers on public transport making drug carriers easier to spot.

The report also raised concerns about social media platforms being used by the gangs in the early stages of grooming young people and noted that the pandemic constrained the ability of the police to effectively safeguard young people.

Dr Grace Robinson, Rights Lab Research Fellow in Modern Slavery Perpetrators and Organised Crime, and a co-investigator on the project, said: “We can say with confidence that the Covid-19 restrictions continue to have an impact upon the ability of organisations to safeguard those exploited for the purposes of County Lines, and ongoing lockdown restrictions exacerbate feelings of isolation and disenfranchisement for many children and young people.”

The study is ongoing and is being completed in collaboration with De Montfort Uni School of law.

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