Three drug dealers have been jailed under modern slavery laws for using vulnerable children to transport and sell drugs as part of a “county lines” operation. The group ran lucrative mobile phone lines selling crack cocaine and heroin in the Portsmouth area between November 2013 and September 2014. They use children as young as 11 to deal mostly heroin and crack cocaine, setting up phone lines in these locations from which they send mass messages about available substances. The victims would receive instructions from the defendants via mobile phone on where to sell or drop off the drugs. Alford, Karemera and Wabelua frequently met them at night to resupply the drug lines and facilitate deals on the streets of Portsmouth.

Source: The Guardian May 14, 2019 18:04 UTC