Growing number of teens being exploited by drug gangs, charity says

Exploitation of vulnerable young people in the Highlands by so-called county lines drug gangs has worsened, according to workers for a children's charity.

Staff at Barnardo's Scotland say criminal groups are targeting youths in Inverness and threatening them with violence and rising drug debt.

The charity leads the Anchor project in the city, a £450,000 initiative to protect youngsters from exploitation that has engaged with 400 young people since it started in 2023.

Earlier this month, police said 12 gangs – mostly based in English cities – were operating in Inverness.

It followed a nationwide operation to tackle the activity that saw 43 arrests and more than £900,000 worth of drugs seizures.

BBC Scotland News was granted access to the Anchor project, which its staff believe is the first of its kind in Scotland.

The project will soon be expanded to Aberdeen and the north east.

Youth worker Ross said gangs tried to use vulnerable teenagers as so-called "runners".

He said: "These are young people who are going to X location to pick up a certain amount of drugs.

"More often than not they are chauffeured by people from these gangs, from area to area, from house to house."

Ross – not his real name – works for Barnardo's in Inverness, mainly with young people aged 16 to 26 and leaving care.

His job, he said, is to shepherd them through the process after being referred by social services.

And some of them, he told BBC News, are directly affected by criminal exploitation.

Because of concerns about potential reprisals, and to maintain the trust of those he works with, he asked to remain anonymous.

He said: "London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Birmingham are the areas that are mentioned most often to me.

"The exploitation starts when some of these people are very young.

"Sometimes they are getting involved just through drugs misuse initially, and then like most people, you go along, your friends are taking drugs.

"Then before you know it, you're in deep."

The dealers have money and cars, Ross explained, and seem to be role models, something to aspire to.

"It's kind of like dangling the carrot," he said.

And once they do get involved, the gangs "won't leave [them] alone".

"They start creating debts, they start making numbers up," said Ross.

"They make you feel like you owe them something, and really do trap you.

"Quite often, these people are threatened with violence, or their family members are."

The youngsters are "constantly living in fear of these gangs turning up at their doors, or rival gangs turning up".

"You are constantly in a battle, is the way it's explained to me," he said.

"You are working for these organisations who say they will protect you, but they will only protect you for as long as it suits them."

Different groups are vying for control of the drug trade in Inverness and the Highlands, he said: "Violence is days, minutes, seconds away from your doorstep.

"There have been a lot of incidents where machetes have been used. Knives. Stabbings."

Ross works alongside the Anchor project, an initiative set up in July 2023.

Established using funds from the Scottish government's CashBack for Communities scheme, it aims to create a "safe space" for teenagers in the city centre, and also includes wraparound support and outreach services.

It is run primarily by Barnardo's, but has also had involvement from charities Action for Children and Aberlour, Highland Council and Police Scotland.

So far, the project has cost about £450,000 and is expected to receive further funding from the CashBack proceeds of crime scheme.

Carol-Ann Crossan-Guruge is a children's services manager at the project.

She told the BBC: "As a multi-agency group, we were identifying high numbers of young people who were being targeted, were the victims of exploitation.

"And there weren't the resources that were needed… we are trying to fill a gap.

"We are trying to provide a staff team that are skilled and experienced in working with young people, so that we can help them reach positive destinations."

The project's 'Hub' – a meeting space with games consoles, table top games and a kitchen – has seen around 400 children and young people visit since it opened.

Carol-Ann said the number of children at risk from exploitation by drug gangs in the city is "very significant".

From what she hears from young people, the gangs are coming from as far afield as London, Liverpool, Manchester a nd Merseyside.

"They would reference different names, different gangs. Certainly, from what we hear from young people, it's gotten worse."

Part of the service involves workers scouring the streets for youths congregating in Inverness city centre and who they believe could be targeted by criminals.

The BBC filmed as staff members Teaghan Daley and Tom Hodge-Sellers approached youngsters with offers of help.

One group of teenage boys told them they had travelled from outside the council area for an optician's appointment, but staff noted they were smoking cannabis.

Teaghan and Tom offered snacks and water, and asked them to visit the Anchor hub.

"In the winter it's a bit more of a concern," Teaghan said.

"If [the young people] are not in town, where are they? They could be congregating in someone else's house…

"If they are cold or hungry, we can tell them to come to the Anchor, we will feed them, warm them up, charge their phone… and keep them away from these houses."

Teaghan told the BBC that she worked as a police officer in Inverness for a year before joining Barnardo's.

"I think being in the police really opened my eyes to what was going on," she said.

"I knew things were happening such as exploitation, but I didn't realise it was happening to the extent it is.

"And I felt, as a police officer, although you've got the powers and arrests and taking away liberty, you don't have the power to help.

Obviously, we can phone parents, phone social work, put in referrals, raise concerns... But that's all you can do.

"I felt really powerless in that, to be honest."

In March, BBC Scotland News reported on Operation Silentridge – a month-long blitz on county lines gangs dominating drug sales in Inverness.

Officers were filmed raiding various properties, some of them blocked with makeshift barricades in what police said was an attempt to keep out rival crime groups as well as law enforcement.

The action "safeguarded" 38 vulnerable people, including nine children.

Four people went on to be referred to the Home Office as potential victims of human trafficking and modern slavery.

Lesley Gordon, of Action for Children, described the use of young people in crime as "child abuse".

Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Houston, head of organised crime and counter terrorism, said: "Organised criminals don't care about the people they harm, they only care about power and money.

"This is simply not welcome or tolerated in Scotland."