Drug dealers posing as joggers and key workers to avoid detection during Covid-19 lockdown, expert says

Drug dealers are pretending to exercise in a bid to sell products during lockdown
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Ellena Cruse7 May 2020
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Drug dealers are adopting new disguises so they can move around freeley during the coronavirus lockdown, a gang expert has said.

Professor Simon Harding, director of the National Centre for Gang Research (NCGR), also said they were using fake NHS ID badges to sell their products under the Covid-19 restrictions.

The academic, based at the University of West London, stated that many dealers are “heeding government advice on social distancing” and adapting their business models to provide “drive-by sales” or letterbox drops to avoid infection.

The news comes as the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed drug prices have increased under lockdown, with fewer drugs entering the UK.

“On one hand they really are heeding Government advice on social distancing, but at the same time it is business as usual and as people were panic-buying food, dealers were running bulk deals and selling lockdown party packs,” Prof Harding said.

“Vehicles are being used more often to carry out deals arranged by phone, with products thrown from windows and money chucked on the back seat to keep items clean.”

Prof Harding also revealed lockdown and travel restrictions are affecting the “county lines ” gang model – which sees young and vulnerable people used as couriers to move drugs and cash between cities and smaller towns.

The new tactics have also led to a reduction in so-called “cuckooing” – where gang members take over the home of a vulnerable person to cut, sort and deal drugs – because it is seen as too risky for health, he explained.

“Sending groups of young lads out to Southend-on-Sea by train to carry drugs is too risky now, so increasingly dealers are driving runners around, or hiring local people to do the job,” said Prof Harding.

“Street gangs are being forced to find new tactics, such as shifting grooming and recruitment online to social media.

“This means young people can become ensnared in dangerous gang activity from their phones while their families have no idea and that is a worry.”

Last month, (NCA) director general Lynn Owens said some drug dealers are trying to disguise themselves as key workers by wearing high visibility clothing or operating from supermarket car parks as they adapt to the coronavirus lockdown.

“They are having to find new ways of working and new networks,” Ms Owens said.

“Drug dealers moving illicit drugs are concerned about greater scrutiny as they recognise that with less people on the streets, they are more visible.”

On April 14, UK Border Force officials found 14 kilos of cocaine stashed among two consignments of facemasks after stopping a Polish van driver near Calais.

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