This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45733542
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Drug dealer jailed for trafficking children in 'county lines' operation | Drug dealer jailed for trafficking children in 'county lines' operation |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A drug dealer who trafficked teenagers to sell heroin and crack cocaine through his county lines narcotics network has been jailed for 14 years. | A drug dealer who trafficked teenagers to sell heroin and crack cocaine through his county lines narcotics network has been jailed for 14 years. |
| Zakaria Mohammed, 21, groomed them before transporting them from Birmingham to rural Lincolnshire. | Zakaria Mohammed, 21, groomed them before transporting them from Birmingham to rural Lincolnshire. |
| West Midlands Police said it was the first time a drug dealer had been convicted of trafficking children under the Modern Slavery Act. | West Midlands Police said it was the first time a drug dealer had been convicted of trafficking children under the Modern Slavery Act. |
| He admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs and trafficking charges. | He admitted conspiracy to supply class A drugs and trafficking charges. |
| Police said Mohammed, from Aston in Birmingham, was "cynical, deliberate and ruthless" in befriending young and vulnerable children, aged 14 and 15 at the time, to use as a commodity to further his drug dealing business. | Police said Mohammed, from Aston in Birmingham, was "cynical, deliberate and ruthless" in befriending young and vulnerable children, aged 14 and 15 at the time, to use as a commodity to further his drug dealing business. |
| Children, who had previously been reported as missing to the force, were found inside three flats in Lincoln when police conducted raids and recovered money, drugs and weapons. | |
| At least one flat was described as "unsanitary", littered with drug paraphernalia, with no heating or food, despite police believing Mohammed was making as much as £500 a day. | |
| Officers launched an investigation with Lincolnshire Police after two 15-year-old boys who were reported missing from their Birmingham homes were found in a flat in Yarborough Road, on 25 January. | |
| Subsequent surveillance identified a Seat Leon registered in Mohammed's name making regular trips from Birmingham, often with teenagers, to an address in Lincoln, police said. | |
| He was stopped in his vehicle by police in February, which led officers to finding a phone to run the drugs line, called "Castro", which contained more than 100 customer contacts, school uniform trousers, a white shirt and school tie belonging to a missing child from Birmingham. | |
| Although it is believed that as many as 10 children were involved, Mohammed was prosecuted for trafficking two boys who were found in a flat and a girl he bought a train ticket to Lincoln for. | Although it is believed that as many as 10 children were involved, Mohammed was prosecuted for trafficking two boys who were found in a flat and a girl he bought a train ticket to Lincoln for. |
| Supt Richard Agar said: "So, in the past, the police would look to prosecute everyone involved. | Supt Richard Agar said: "So, in the past, the police would look to prosecute everyone involved. |
| "We recognised at an early stage that Zakaria was the offender and he was exploiting and they were the victims, so as a consequence we looked to safeguard them, to protect them." | "We recognised at an early stage that Zakaria was the offender and he was exploiting and they were the victims, so as a consequence we looked to safeguard them, to protect them." |
| The phrase "county lines" refers to the phone line used by inner city gangs to either set up and run, or takeover, drug dealing businesses in smaller towns and cities. |