In the Guardian today:
Police believe strip-searching children can be effective, but suspicions of misuse remain. There is little dispute that compelling anyone, let alone a child, to expose their intimate body parts against their will to a stranger causes real emotional pain. But police believe strip-searching can be a useful tool.
The police believe the use of “plugging”, the secretion of illegal drugs, increased with the growth of the “county lines” phenomenon, which saw children used as mules to move drugs from big cities to smaller towns.
Young people have been lured or threatened by drugs gangs who believe police will be reluctant to target people aged under 18.
From Police Scotland in 2023:
There is little dispute that compelling anyone, let alone a child, to expose their intimate body parts against their will to a stranger causes real emotional pain. But police believe strip-searching can be a useful tool.
The police believe the use of “plugging”, the secretion of illegal drugs, increased with the growth of the “county lines” phenomenon, which saw children used as mules to move drugs from big cities to smaller towns.
From the Scottish Mail on Sunday in February 2024:
Scotland is seeing an explosion of ‘county lines’ gangs forcing children and vulnerable adults to smuggle drugs to every corner of the country.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal at least 55 gangs have been identified operating north of the Border – more than double the number in 2020.
County lines is the phenomenon whereby drug dealers from cities expand their operation by crossing county borders into smaller towns and rural areas.
Gangs from parts of England have forced youngsters and vulnerable adults – aged from 14 to 77 – to smuggle packages of heroin, crack cocaine and other narcotics into Scotland on buses and trains.
There are no Scottish County Lines Gangs. BBC Scotland will not report on them in a sick strategy to protect the Union.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
Maybe BBC Scotland’s chicken Disclosure team might want to look into this?
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Naw, they’ve goat a ‘Scotland bad’ story.
Reportedly, Filipino and other seamen, are being treated like slaves on SCOTTISH fishing boat.
Undoubtedly the treatment of these fishermen is wrong and inhuman. It is something worth reporting.
However, the story relates to ONE fishing company in Annan. Yet, the BBC emphasises the SCOTTISH aspect, implying that such conduct is widespread amongst all Scottish fishing companies.
Alasdair Macdonald
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Scottish drug deaths are the flavour of the day. News channels spouting every hour on the hour about the failure of the SG to get on top of Scotland’s terrible drugs death numbers. Worst in the UK gleefully reported. Not one mention anywhere about county line gangs.
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An article by The Ferret went into detail about the failure of the SG to get to grips with drug deaths but not once were county line gangs mentioned by any of the contributors.
I thought that was very strange.
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The Ferret is anti SNP, I stopped reading their cr*p years ago.
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Yes, I gathered that but I subscribed years ago when he wasn’t. I haven’t cancelled because, in spite of his change of heart, some of the articles are worth reading.
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