A new criminal offence of ‘coerced internal concealment’, to be introduced as an amendment to the landmark Crime and Policing Bill, will crack down on anyone, including gang leaders who force people to hide items inside their bodies to avoid detection.
This practice, also known by the street names ‘plugging’, ‘stuffing’ and ‘banking’, is typically used by organised gangs to transport items like drugs, money and SIM cards from one location to another.
It relies on forcing or deceiving children and vulnerable adults into ingesting or hiding items inside their bodily cavities and is often linked to county lines drug running.
Internal concealment is an extremely dangerous practice. It can be fatal if drug packages break open inside the body and can cause significant physical and psychological harm to those forced to do it.
Where senior gang figures are found to have coerced other individuals to ingest or carry specified items inside their bodies, they will face up to 10 years behind bars.
Jess Phillips, Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls, said:
There is something truly evil about the gang leaders who degrade young girls, young boys and vulnerable adults in this way, forcing them to put their lives at risk.
This new offence will go alongside other measures in our landmark Crime and Policing Bill to turn the tables on the gang leaders and hold them to account for exploiting children and vulnerable adults.
As part of our Plan for Change, this government will give police and prosecutors the powers they need to dismantle these drug gangs entirely and secure convictions that reflect the severity of these crimes.
To deliver the government’s mission to halve knife crime in the next decade and deliver safer streets, it is crucial to tackle the drug gangs that run county lines through violence and exploitation.
That is why the government has committed to investing £42 million into the County Lines Programme this year, to break down the organised crime groups behind this trade.
The latest statistics from the programme show that since July 2024, law enforcement activity resulted in over 1,200 line closures and 2,000 arrests – including the arrest and subsequent charging of over 800 violent offenders controlling the lines.
There were also more than 2,100 safeguarding referrals for children and vulnerable people.
The County Lines Programme also provides specialist support for children and young people to escape the drugs trade.
Over 320 children and young people received dedicated specialist support during this period, which can include one-to-one casework for young people and their families to help prevent exploitation or support their safe exit.
The criminalisation of ‘coerced internal concealment’ will ensure that victims are properly recognised and receive the support they need.
It also sends a clear message to offenders that the punishment for this crime will match the impact of the harm they have caused.
The new offence will join a package of other measures in the government’s Crime and Policing Bill designed to protect children and vulnerable adults, including a specific offence of child criminal exploitation aimed at the ringleaders behind county lines operations.
Kate Wareham, Strategic Director of Young People, Families and Communities at Catch22 said:
Catch22 welcomes the introduction of tougher consequences for adults who force children and vulnerable young adults into carrying drugs through invasive methods of bodily concealment.
From our county lines, child exploitation and our Redthread embedded youth work in A&E services across England, we know the devastating, life changing physical and mental impact of this abuse on its young victims.
Robust, specialist exploitation and violence reduction services are essential to ensure child victims are supported to process their trauma and safeguarded from further harm. But we need to prevent exploitation happening in the first place. By targeting the perpetrators, this new offence of coerced internal concealment is a crucial step forward towards that.
Lucy D’Orsi, the Chief Constable of British Transport Police said:
We welcome this new measure which increases the safety of those at risk and supports bringing their abusers to justice.
Safeguarding the vulnerable is a priority for BTP’s County Lines Taskforce. Our bespoke unit, made up of experienced social work professionals, works to pull the exploited from the clutches of organised crime groups by providing them with fast time support and resources from our specialist partners.
We continue to put the exploited and the vulnerable at the forefront of our fight against county lines gangs and take a zero tolerance stance against anyone who profits from the exploitation of children.
