Drug gangs in the UK, also known as county lines gangs, coach their underage recruits to lie about being victims of modern slavery as they believe they can avoid prosecution, and it makes them untouchable, according to a report.
Modern slavery excuse
Dame Sara Thornton, the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, warned that drug dealers are now coaching children in their respective groups to tell the authorities that they have been forced to sell drugs and that they were trafficked.
They believe that no matter how many times they get caught, they will not be prosecuted because of this excuse.
According to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), children will not be charged no matter how serious their criminal cases are, and they will be wrongly discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service before trial if the children are proven to have been pushed into crime due to modern slavery.
An example cited by Thornton was the case of a 12-year-old boy who was shot in the face by another underaged drug gang member after he escaped trial over his drug offenses after he claimed that he was trafficked and a victim of modern slavery.
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Authorities stated that the CPS is using the NRM decision to drop the cases at court. According to Telegraph.Co, they are concerned that this encourages an "untouchable" attitude in some of the underage county lines members.
Another alarming realization is that the higher tiers in the criminal group will continue to target and use children as there are no consequences if they get caught.
Authorities pointed out that the system is not strict enough and is not effective as drug gangs can find a way to get around it.
Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act gives a statutory defense for trafficked victims who were forced to commit criminal offenses like selling and transporting drugs.
The Modern Slavery Act was made to encourage victims of slavery, especially underaged ones, to provide evidence without having to be afraid of getting convicted for their crimes. However, the law is now abused by gangs so that they can avoid going to jail.
Thornton added that the consequence of the already outdated Slavery Act is that drug gangs see it as an opportunity to make their underage recruits immune to law enforcement. She said that the whole ordeal is the "perfect storm" as traffickers know how to abuse their victims and exploit the statutory defense.
Girls in county lines
Although it is known that drug gangs in the UK are using children to make themselves invincible and untouchable, a report by charity Hestia said that the trend now is recruiting young girls because they are less likely to be stopped by police.
The number of young girls involved in drug gangs is underestimated and undetected. According to Thornton, the gang members usually create romantic relationships with the girls to control them and take over them in the future.
The report also stated that the young girls are forced into labor, forced to beg, and forced to shoplift. The authorities warned that the tactics that the gangs use are examples of the sophisticated methods that criminals are using to control their victims.
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