23/09/2020: Dark web drugs raid leads to 179 arrests

Police forces around the world have seized more than $6.5m (£5m) in cash and virtual currencies, as well as drugs and guns in a co-ordinated raid on dark web marketplaces. Some 179 people were . . . arrested across Europe and the US, and 500kg (1,102lb) of drugs and 64 guns confiscated. It ends the “golden age” of these underground marketplaces, Europol said. “The hidden internet is no longer hidden”, said Edvardas Sileris, head of Europol’s cyber-crime centre.
BBC

18/09/2020: Exploitation by county lines gangs increased during lockdown, government figures show

An increase in exploitation by county lines gangs during lockdown has seen the number of potential child victims of criminal exploitation overtake adults for the first time, government figures show. . . . The most recent modern slavery statistics, published by the Home Office, show a five per cent drop in overall referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) during lockdown compared with the same four months (April – June) the previous year.
Children and Young People Now

28/08/2020: Children exploited by gangs in lockdown ‘most at risk of exclusion’ in September

Fears of a spike in exclusions as schools reopen in September could “disproportionately impact” children exploited by county lines drugs gangs during lockdown, a children’s legal charity has warned. . . . Just for Kids Law is calling for schools to change their approach to child criminal exploitation so that it “always focuses on doing everything possible to safeguard and protect a child” amid fears of a spike in exclusions from next week.
Children and Young People Now