Latest news with #druggangs
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Child exploitation by drug gangs laid bare on TV
A television show is set to examine the exploitation of young boys by county lines drug gangs. The issue is featured on 24 Hours in Police Custody on Channel 4 on Sunday, under the title Lost Boys. Bedfordshire Police's search for a missing child becomes an investigation into a drug dealing involving the grooming of young boys. Gary Hales, investigation officer, said: "This is a really powerful episode which we hope encourages parents and carers to be alert to signs of exploitation and report any concerns to us." Police said following the missing person report, officers raided a house believed to be linked to drugs supply. During the investigation they identified people believed to be responsible for running a county drugs line and grooming young boys into carrying out drugs deals. Last month, Bedfordshire Police launched its Lost Boys campaign which aims to educate parents, carers and young people about the signs of criminal exploitation and the consequences of becoming involved in illegal drug activity. They said these could be signs someone was involved in county lines activities: Repeatedly going missing from school or home and being found in other areas Having money, new clothes or electronic devices but they cannot explain how they paid for them Getting high numbers of texts or phone calls, and being secretive about who they are speaking to A decline in school or work performance Significant changes in emotional or physical well-being Mr Hales said: "This episode clearly shows how young people, and boys in particular, can be groomed and used by drugs gangs. "The problem is that often they don't realise they are being exploited and that they are victims until it is too late. "We're not here to criminalise young people who are victims themselves. "As this episode shows we're interested in finding out who those people are at the very top of the drugs line and ensuring they are brought to justice. "The exploitation of young boys by county drugs lines is a real issue not only in Bedfordshire but across the country." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Thirty people arrested in county lines crackdown Police break up major county lines drug network Lost Boys county lines film shown to pupils Bedfordshire Police
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Bedfordshire child exploitation by drug gangs laid bare on TV
A television show is set to examine the exploitation of young boys by county lines drug gangs. The issue is featured on 24 Hours in Police Custody on Channel 4 on Sunday, under the title Lost Police's search for a missing child becomes an investigation into a drug dealing involving the grooming of young Hales, investigation officer, said: "This is a really powerful episode which we hope encourages parents and carers to be alert to signs of exploitation and report any concerns to us." Police said following the missing person report, officers raided a house believed to be linked to drugs supply. During the investigation they identified people believed to be responsible for running a county drugs line and grooming young boys into carrying out drugs deals. Last month, Bedfordshire Police launched its Lost Boys campaign which aims to educate parents, carers and young people about the signs of criminal exploitation and the consequences of becoming involved in illegal drug said these could be signs someone was involved in county lines activities:Repeatedly going missing from school or home and being found in other areasHaving money, new clothes or electronic devices but they cannot explain how they paid for themGetting high numbers of texts or phone calls, and being secretive about who they are speaking toA decline in school or work performanceSignificant changes in emotional or physical well-being Mr Hales said: "This episode clearly shows how young people, and boys in particular, can be groomed and used by drugs gangs."The problem is that often they don't realise they are being exploited and that they are victims until it is too late."We're not here to criminalise young people who are victims themselves."As this episode shows we're interested in finding out who those people are at the very top of the drugs line and ensuring they are brought to justice."The exploitation of young boys by county drugs lines is a real issue not only in Bedfordshire but across the country." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Daily Mail
05-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
STEPHEN DAISLEY: A grown up debate graces Holyrood... for all of eight minutes
Organised crime and its policing were the talking points at First Minister's Questions. With everything else in disarray, it's reassuring to hear that Scotland's criminals remain well-organised. During his years in journalism, Russell Findlay made a name for himself as a crusading crime reporter, throwing sunlight on the shady activities of the underworld. He was eventually subjected to a doorstep acid attack for his trouble. As Tory leader, he's cranked up the pressure, and did so again yesterday in a masterclass in parliamentary interrogation. Findlay referred to the fatal shootings of two Scots in Spain and what he called 'a turf war on Scotland's streets' that had been raging for a quarter century. Drug gangs were 'parasites', 'cowards', and 'thugs'. They 'grow rich by preying on society's most vulnerable' and spread 'terror and death with guns, knives and firebombs'. He invited John Swinney to echo his view that Holyrood had not done enough to suppress this societal blight. The First Minister admitted there was 'an awful lot in what Mr Findlay said with which I agree', but he ultimately rejected his conclusion because Police Scotland were 'relentlessly' pursuing the kingpins. Not actively enough for Findlay. He complained that organised crime 'has rarely been on the agenda' and wasn't even mentioned in the government's five-year justice strategy. He reiterated his reason for entering politics: 'I could not understand why politicians do not talk about the malevolent reach and devastating harm of organised crime.' (There's a very good reason for that: they have an aversion to waking up at 3am to find the family home on fire.) Swinney rounded on the 'flaws' in Findlay's question. He said a 'very high number' of underworld baddies were 'currently incarcerated for a very long time'. As for inaction, the SNP set up the Scottish Crime Campus, an internationally respected crime-fighting centre, and brought forward the 2022 Serious Organised Crime Strategy. This was far from the liveliest exchanges seen in the parliament. Few if any viral clips will come out of it. But it was two men who usually talk past each other to their core voters choosing instead to have a solemn, grown-up conversation about a grave matter. They see matters very differently, but they share a goal of loosening organised crime's grip. Shared goals are becoming a rarity at Holyrood and they made for a serious, substantive conversation. A conversation that lasted all of eight minutes. Things came undone when Findlay said crime gangs were recruiting under 25s because they faced a reduced risk of doing prison time. Swinney harrumphed that it was 'misleading' to say there were 'no consequences' for youngsters who commit crime. A mildly baffled Findlay replied: 'John Swinney appears to be hearing things. I said no such thing.' The Tory leader wants to make it easier for the authorities to go after the proceeds of crime. Successive governments talked this up but underworld bosses had learned how to hide their ill-gotten gains. Elsewhere, Alex Cole-Hamilton reproached the SNP government for the state of Scotland's rivers and waterways, which he branded 'absolutely honking'. Fans of parliamentary linguistics will be interested to know that this was only the second time the phrase has been uttered at Holyrood to mean extremely malodorous. The late John Swinburne, of the (also late) Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, introduced the term in a chamber debate on smoking in 2004. He recounted his experience of a visit to the Holyrood smoking room, describing it as 'absolutely honking', which he defined to mean 'very unpleasant and smelly'. He contrasted this with the better-ventilated smoking room at the BBC in Glasgow, which he considered to be 'less polluted than the air in Sauchiehall Street'. For younger readers struggling to fathom the concept of a smoking room in the Scottish Parliament, or the BBC, or indeed the 21st century, I assure you that it's all true. The past is a foreign, and much smellier, country.
BBC News
27-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
'Trusted courier' jailed over Londonderry cannabis haul
A man described in court as a "trusted courier" has been jailed for two years after being found with more than four kilos of cannabis in his Chan, 38, from Creswick Avenue, Essex, pleaded guilty at Londonderry Crown Court on discovered eight vacuum bags of cannabis in his car when it was stopped on the Culmore Road in Derry on 4 August Judge Neil Rafferty said: "It is quite clear he was acting in the role of a trusted courier making deliveries to known people throughout the island of Ireland." The court was told police also found four handwritten lists of addresses in Northern Ireland and in Galway and Dublin, in the Republic of judge also ordered that £300 found inside the car should be donated to the local branch of Marie Curie. 'No previous convictions' Judge Rafferty said Chan, who has been in custody since his arrest, had previously lived in Ballymena, County Antrim, and Holywood in County court was told Chan had previously worked on oil rigs and who opened a shop when he moved to became involved in supplying drugs after he was forced to close his shop due to the economic Rafferty said the defendant had become a delivery driver for drugs gangs."He had no drugs issues himself and never used drugs and had no previous convictions until he pleaded guilty to this criminality," the judge added.
