Monmouthshire: Drugs gangs target children of teachers and GPs

Young people from all socio-economic backgrounds are vulnerable to criminal gangs, Monmouthshire council was told

Gangs are targeting the children of teachers, nurses and GPs to run drugs into rural areas, a council has been told.

Children turn to crime due to a lack of job opportunities, a charity told Monmouthshire councillors.

Dealers set up county lines supply routes to try to recruit "clean skins" - teenagers with no criminal record - the charity also said.

They can be recruited via social media, it added.

"We work with many families where the parents are professionals, teachers, nurses and GPs," said Rebecca Miller, a team leader for the St Giles Trust Cymru.

The cost of living, children struggling to return to school following the Covid pandemic and a lack of employment opportunities all contributed to young people falling into crime, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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Danielle John, a case worker for the charity which works across south east Wales, Gloucestershire and and Bristol, told councillors young people who previously had not come to the attention of authorities were more attractive to drugs gangs.

Teenagers who with no criminal past and no social worker are "easier to move" by drugs gangs, the committee heard

"They know they don't have social workers so it can be easier to move them," Ms John said.

Ms John said teenagers can be recruited via social media.

"Social media, TV shows and music can glamorise the lifestyle and it may be there parents are working so they do not have someone watching over them," she said.

"They may like a picture on social media and these people will message them and say, 'You liked this picture, do you want to be involved and make some money?'"