The Changing Faces of County Lines: How Young Girls Are Being Exploited to Carry Drugs Across the Country
Georgina, a pseudonym to protect her identity, was still a child when she revealed she had already endured multiple abusive relationships with men linked to county lines activity. Raised in a household marked by instability and fear, she faced neglect and trauma from an early age. By her teenage years, Georgina was grappling with severe mental health issues, fractured attachments, and harmful coping mechanisms, including regular cannabis use and self-harm.
The loss of a parent and a difficult relationship with a step-parent intensified her feelings of resentment and neglect, deepening her emotional disconnection. At 17, she was coerced into travelling with her partner, unaware that the true purpose of the journey was to transport drugs across the country. This case highlights a disturbing trend where young girls are increasingly targeted by county lines grooming gangs.
The Boyfriend Model and Social Media Grooming
Known as the ‘boyfriend model’, this method involves older male criminals targeting younger girls, often through social media, which is regarded as the primary grooming tool for criminal gangs. Perpetrators typically begin with compliments, physical gifts like clothes or money, loving emojis, and even offers of beauty treatments such as Botox fillers. Victims are then persuaded to move from platforms like Snapchat or TikTok to encrypted messaging apps.
Charity sources confirm that more teenage girls and women are being coerced into county lines, with the situation worsening in recent years. In 2026, recruitment methods have become more sophisticated, exploiting the fact that girls are less likely to be stop-searched, less suspected of criminal involvement, and more easily controlled through psychological and sexual coercion.
Alarming Statistics and Safeguarding Failures
During the Home Office’s County Lines intensification week in June 2025, a national police operation targeting criminal gangs and safeguarding victims revealed that 50% of those receiving safeguarding support were women, with 45% still being girls. Jade Hibbert, a regional manager at St Giles Trust, emphasized that any child or young person, regardless of background, could be at risk due to their mobile phones, debunking the myth that only those from poverty are vulnerable.
In Georgina’s case, her abuser sent varying amounts of money after connecting online, later identified as a form of control rather than a gift. After being referred to the prevention charity Catch 22, she managed to break free from the cycle of abuse and has since forged a life free from exploitation.
Rising Involvement in Serious Crime
A Freedom of Information request in August 2025 found that children as young as 13 had been arrested by the Metropolitan Police for dealing Class A drugs like crack cocaine. In January 2026, two girls were among three teenagers jailed for murder after attacking a homeless man near King’s Cross station in a vicious county lines retribution attack.
In 2025, 22% of the children supported by Catch 22’s county lines rescue service identified as female, with the charity witnessing an increasing number of referrals of young women and girls. At least a quarter of the young victims of violence and exploitation supported by their Redthread services in A&E are girls and young women, though actual numbers are likely higher due to underreporting.
Systemic Gaps in Protection
Johnny Bolderson, senior service manager at Catch 22, noted that a recent audit revealed a lack of National Referral Mechanisms (NRMs) for women and girls. NRMs help identify victims of modern slavery and criminal exploitation, providing bulletproof protection to prevent convictions and offer legal support. Out of 160 women and girls worked with, only six had an NRM, indicating many are not correctly identified as victims.
Their youngest male referral was a seven-year-old boy, while several referrals for 12-year-old girls at risk of both sexual and criminal exploitation have been received. Girls are often asked to transport drugs and money, with some even holding weapons for their boyfriends.
Challenges in Early Intervention and Justice
Early intervention can be a postcode lottery, dependent on the quality of social care services, schools, and local police forces. Victims often have strained relationships with police, having been told not to trust authorities and reluctant to admit abuse. In response, Essex Police have launched the pilot project Under The Radar, aimed at supporting girls and women aged 11-24 at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation.
Jade Hibbert drew parallels to Oliver Twist, noting that criminal exploitation is not new, but the model remains the same: children are manipulated with a fake sense of purpose and belonging to carry out violence and transport drugs. Punishing exploited children while organised crime adults remain in the shadows is not justice; it represents a failure of safeguarding.
