Children used as 'vape mules' in County Durham schools by gangs

The sale of illegal vapes "goes hand in hand" with organised crime, drug dealing and money laundering - and worrying trends show significant numbers of are becoming addicted to nicotine, with vape addiction leading children into the criminal world. 

Illegal vapes, often given to children by gangs and drug dealers, are then being sold on school playgrounds by children exploited used as vape mules.  

DC Jonathan Keenan, from Durham Constabulary, said: "We've identified that the illegal vape market is the first rung on the ladder of county lines drug operations - and in discussions about it with us, the Home Office has said that they also consider illegal vapes to be the first step down the road of organised crime.

"If I'm in an organised crime group, and someone gets caught, one of the biggest risks is that they'll tell police where they got their products from.

"When a child gets caught, it's a way to test children - will they dob [the gang] in?  

"After they've been caught, the children selling those vapes have lost them - so they owe something. If they haven't dobbed [dealers] in, then they'll be moved onto selling cannabis, and then onto harder drugs."

DC Jonathan Keenan said that the illegal vape market is the first rung on the ladder of county lines drug operations (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

He added:  "Schools are screaming out for help with their students vaping, and selling vapes at school. Agencies need to join the dots, and there needs to be a national strategy for tackling this issue."

"Once [children] are hooked in by that addiction, and when they know they can make money selling these vapes on the school playground, it opens them up to the world of organised crime. 

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Vice President for Policy, Dr Mike McKean, also warned about skyrocketing number of nicotine hooked teens, and its currently unknown long term impacts.

He said: "That almost a fifth of teens have tried vaping is extremely worrying. At the end of the day, vaping is far from risk-free and very often addictive.

"I’m concerned that we have allowed e-cigarette companies free reign to target our children with these brightly coloured, flavoured, appealing and potentially damaging products."

Phoebe Abruzzese hands vapes over to Police staff Kate Tolly at Durham Police (Image: SARAH CALDECOTT)

In a recent batch of lab tests, including "red flag" devices test-purchased by a reporter as part of the Echo's vape investigation, only two of 35 vapes were deemed legal.

Police are regularly seeing children go through illegal supersize vapes in a single day "like it's nothing", with kids vaping a 4,000 puff vape, equivalent to about six packets of cigarettes. 

Five of the six vapes tested that had been seized from school children were not compliant - being too full, too strong, or rife with toxic heavy metals. 

There are movements to combat child exploitation, as service providers in crime prevention, health, and education grow increasingly worried about the epidemic of youth vaping and its links to child exploitation and organised crime. 

DC Keenan said: "We need to join the dots between agencies to tackle this issue, but there's no clear path at this moment in time.

Recommended reading:

• Illegal vapes seized in County Durham and Darlington schools full of toxic chemicals
• Police stumped by vapes filled with unknown substances sold to reporter in Durham
• Echo Comment on the ease of buying "red flag" vapes in Durham

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"Even now, if you ask most people who deals with vapes, they will probably say Trading Standards - that's the public perception, but it is a lot of agencies.

"Currently, there is no national strategy. We're all trying to interpret the upcoming vapes bill, and what that means for enforcement."

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham, Graham Hall, promised that his office was having "necessary conversations" about cracking down on illegal vapes and child exploitation with PCCs across the nation, "acting on recommendations" from the police and trading standards front lines.