Drug gangs are targetting British teenagers on a shocking scale. The criminals are believed to have recruited well over 100,000 under-18s in the past year, with hundreds of thousands more approached, a new survey has revealed.
According to the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), twelve per cent of 13 to 17-year-olds reported being approached by criminals to either: “sell drugs; transport drugs; or store drugs, weapons or money”.
The Government-funded charity asked nearly 11,000 teenage children England and Wales to share their experience of exploitation and gangs.
YEF found that eight per cent of respondents were asked to sell drugs, 7.1 per cent were asked to transport them, and 5.7 per cent were asked to store drugs, weapons or money.
It said: “Around a quarter of those who were approached to do one of these things went through with it — the equivalent of 120,000 13-17-year-olds in England and Wales.”
The survey revealed that the most common tactic used “to exploit teens into crime” was bribery with, criminals offering money, ‘goods’, drugs or alcohol. Gangs also used threats of violence and blackmail.
YEF Chief Executive Jon Yates said it is “horrifying how many children are being targeted” by drug gangs and called for “timely support” to help them “break free from this cycle of harm and violence”.