Drug Gangs Use Social Media To Groom Young People In County Towns

Young people are being groomed locally – ‘on their door steps’ – as drug gangs and dealers adapt the way they work to exploit young people across county lines. A new report, Between The Lines, published today by the National Youth Agency (NYA) highlights:

  1. There is an increasing trend for gangs to target vulnerable young people in county-towns and rural areas, as well as moving young people across county lines.
  2. This has been supported by increased use and diversification of social media platforms to groom different types of young people in-county and across county lines.
  3. There is a lack of sufficient youth services and support for young people in many of the county towns and rural areas, with a concentration of diversionary projects in the urban cities where gangs operate from.

Click on the report image below to read more.

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