The changing faces of county lines: How young girls are being exploited to carry drugs across the country

Georgina* was still a child when she revealed that she was already in a series of abusive relationships with men linked to county government activities.

He grew up in an abusive home where instability and fear were part of daily life. By the time she was a teenager, she was struggling with her mental health, broken ligaments, and harmful coping mechanisms such as regular marijuana use and self-harm.

The loss of a parent and a difficult relationship with a stepparent intensified feelings of resentment and neglect and deepened the feeling of emotional disconnection.

He was 17 when he was eventually forced to travel with his partner, not realizing that the real purpose of the trip was to transport drugs across the country.

In recent years charities have warned that young girls are increasingly being targeted by the county’s grooming gangs, a term used to describe organized crime groups who use children and vulnerable adults to carry out illegal activities on their behalf.

Known as the “boyfriend model”, social workers and charities continue to see older male criminals targeting teenage girls, often approached via social media, which is considered a “primary grooming tool” for criminal gangs.

Perpetrators often start with compliments, physical gifts like clothes or money, sending affectionate emojis, and even offering beauty treatments like Botox fillers.

Victims are then often persuaded to switch from platforms like Snapchat or TikTok to encrypted messaging apps.

Asked if more girls and women were being forced to travel to county lines, a charity source said: “The short answer is absolutely yes. “In some ways it has gotten worse over the last 12 months.

“While recruitment methods were previously complex, in 2026 another layer has been added and we are increasingly seeing girls being coerced and exploited because they are less likely to be stopped and searched, less likely to be suspected of criminal involvement, and more easily controlled through psychological and sexual pressure.”

During the Home Office’s intensification week in June last year, a national police operation targeting criminal gangs and protecting victims, 50 per cent of those receiving protection support were women, and 45 per cent of them were still girls.

“One thing the public and the community needs to know is that 20 years ago we were talking about girls living in poverty or deprivation,” said Jade Hibbert, regional director of St Giles Trust.

“This is simply not the case in 2026. Any child or young person, regardless of gender or background, could be considered at risk of sexual or criminal exploitation due to their mobile phone.”

In Georgina’s case, once connected to the internet, the harasser began sending varying amounts of money, which was later described as “a form of control rather than a gift”.

After being referred to prevention charity Catch 22, she was able to break free of the cycle of abuse and break contact, and is now able to build a life free of exploitation.

A Freedom of Information request made last August revealed that 13-year-olds had been arrested by the Metropolitan Police for dealing in Class A drugs such as crack cocaine, while two girls were among three teenagers jailed for murder after attacking a homeless man near King’s Cross station in January.

Jaidee Bingham, then 16 at the time of the attack, Eymaiyah Lee Bradshaw-McKoy, then 16, and Mia Campos-Jorge, then 17, fatally beat Anthony Marks with a gin bottle in what was described as a “vicious county lines retaliation attack”.

In 2025, 22 per cent of children supported by Catch 22’s county lines rescue service were identified as female, and the charity has seen an increasing number of young women and girls being referred in recent years.

At least a quarter of young victims of violence and exploitation supported by Redthread services at A&E are girls and young women. But the charity warns the numbers are likely to be much higher as many victims go unnoticed.

Their senior service manager, Johnny Bolderson, said a recent review of all cases involving women and girls found that the biggest pattern that emerged was the lack of availability of National Referral Mechanisms (NRM). NRMs help identify victims of modern slavery and criminal exploitation, act as “bulletproof protection” to prevent them from being convicted or charged, and provide them with legal support.

“If there were 200 men under 18, probably more than half of them would have NRM,” he said. “Of the 160 women and girls we worked with, only six had NRM. They are not properly identified as victims of criminal exploitation.”

The youngest man they referred was a seven-year-old boy; They had also received many referrals for 12-year-old girls who were at risk of both sexual and criminal exploitation.

“They have a little bit of everything they’re asked to carry, especially drugs and money. We see some girls carrying guns for their boyfriends,” he said.

But early intervention can be treated as a “postcode lottery”, depending on the quality of social care services, schools and local police forces.

Another problem is victims’ relationships with police officers; because they are often told not to trust authorities and are reluctant to admit they have been abused.

Essex Police recently launched the Under The Radar pilot project, which aims to support girls and women aged 11-24 who are at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation.

It was launched in response to growing concerns that girls are increasingly involved in serious youth violence and invisible to traditional protection processes.

“Look at Oliver Twist, criminal exploitation is nothing new,” Ms Hibbert said. “Oliver Twist was pressured, controlled, given a sense of belonging, given a false sense of purpose, given the clothes on his back, and trained to be a pickpocket. Our children are manipulated to commit violence, carry drugs and guns. The pattern is the same.

“Punishing children who are exploited and abused while organized crime adults remain in the shadows is not justice. It is a failure to protect children.”

*Georgina’s name has been changed to protect her identity