Apps target children as lure into drug crime

THOUSANDS of children are at risk of being lured into selling drugs through social media sites such as Instagram, the police have warned, as they secured their first modern slavery conviction against a gang of dealers.

A complex web of more than 900 “county lines” have been discovered across the UK, where organised crime groups based in urban areas use violence and intimidation to force young and vulnerable people to sell drugs remotely in rural or seaside areas.

This could mean thousands of young people are being exploited, the Metropolitan Police said, and they are often targeted on social media such as Instagram and Snapchat, sometimes with the promise of a relationship or money.

It comes as Fesal Mahamud, 20, and Mahad Yusuf, 21, from the Enfield, London-based DA (Dem Africans) gang became the first “county lines” offenders convicted under modern slavery law. They were jailed for 10 and nine years respectively.

Their 19-year-old victim was lured into meeting them through social media, but what she thought was going to be a date saw her driven to a drugs den in Swansea. Once there they smashed up her phone and told her she “belonged” to them, before forcing her to conceal heroin and crack cocaine on her body and help sell the drugs.

The woman, from north London, was beaten during the five days she was held captive before police stormed the property on May 25 last year.

Det Insp Rick Sewart said of the gangs: “They use social media to target young, vulnerable people. They use Instagram, Snapchat and other similar social media platforms, often looking for new platforms and new apps.”