In the Guardian today:

An increasing number of girls are being identified as victims of county lines exploitation, figures have shown.

Data from Catch22, the charity that provides the national county lines support service, said girls and young women formed 22% of its caseload in 2025, up from 15% the previous year.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/04/county-lines-drugs-girls-exploitation-data

I’m surprised to be reading of this kind of thing so late in the day, after at least 10 years of County Lines gangs operating across the UK.

Why?

In September 2025, BBC Highlands and Islands have the above and:

County lines gangs are forcing vulnerable women into joining networks supplying crack cocaine and heroin to the Highlands and Islands, a senior detective has warned. Det Ch Insp Craig Still said criminal groups based in major UK cities were sending associates north to co-ordinate drug dealing.

He told BBC Scotland‘s Scotcast that the suspects were often young men known for violent offences in their home cities. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy0xdxdl40o

Funnily enough, Det Ch Insp Still seems to have said something a wee bit different, more geographically precise, to the ears of the Daily Record reporter listening to the same interview:

They tend to be individuals who have been through the justice system IN ENGLAND, may have convictions for violence. They may have gang connections and they may regularly be in possession of weapons.” https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/gangsters-sending-teen-drug-dealers-to-terrorise-highlands-as-overdose-deaths-rise/ar-AA1MZ4Mx?ocid=BingNewsSerp

Funny that, eh? It’s almost as if BBC Scotland have an agenda.