Uber and Airbnb ‘must help to spot county lines criminals’ who use children as drug mules, crime minister warns
- Crime Minister Victoria Atkins said companies should do more to stop gangs
- Gangs groom boys and girls to be ‘couriers’ to flood market towns with drugs
- Exploited children travel vast distances on trains and in taxis for gifts and money
Tech companies have been criticised for not doing enough to help tackle the problem of children as young as 12 being used as drug mules.
Crime Minister Victoria Atkins said Uber and Airbnb must train cab drivers and people using the app to rent out homes to identify youngsters who have been groomed by ‘county lines’ gangs.
The gangs lure boys and girls to be ‘couriers’ to flood market towns and seaside resorts with heroin and crack cocaine.
There are more than 1,400 county line gangs – named after the lucrative telephone lines used to organise the illegal trade – making an estimated £1.8 billion annual profit between them [File photo]
Exploited children, who are offered hundreds of pounds a week and designer clothes, travel vast distances on trains and in taxis, including Uber cars.
Once they reach their destination, they stay in properties rented by gangs, increasingly short-term lets and Airbnb homes.
Mrs Atkins said: ‘Any help that major organisations like Uber can give would be very welcome.
These huge companies are under quite a lot of public attention in terms of their corporate social responsibility and it would be very interesting if [they] could help us.’
She told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘This is not just a policing matter. We need to make people aware it’s happening so they’re alert to it. We also need the help of train operators, taxi drivers and local authorities.’
Exploited children travel vast distances on trains and in taxis, including in Uber cars. They stay in properties rented by gangs, increasingly short-term lets and Airbnb homes [File photo]
The mother of a child groomed by a county lines gang welcomed the minister’s comments. She said: ‘These kids are operating right under the noses of British Transport Police, on trains, in taxis and in Ubers, but no one is asking anything.’
It is believed there are more than 1,400 county line gangs – named after the lucrative telephone lines used to organise the illegal trade – making an estimated £1.8 billion annual profit between them.
Last month, Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced the opening of a new £3.6million National County Lines Co-ordination Centre, which will allow police forces to share intelligence and target gangs operating over a wide area.
A spokesman for Airbnb said it worked closely with authorities in relevant investigations and to train its users.
Uber declined to comment.
Source: Read Full Article