Latest modern slavery fight updates - FreedomUnited.org

Drug Dealers Convicted for Trafficking Teen Girl

  • Published on
    December 6, 2017
  • News Source Image
  • Category:
    Human Trafficking, Law & Policy
Hero Banner

Two drug dealers have been charged with trafficking a teenage girl in the UK, making it the first time the UK’s Modern Slavery Act has been used to prosecute drug dealers. The two men, Mahad Yusuf, 20, and Fesal Mahamud, 19, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to the human trafficking charges and conspiracy to supply class A drugs.

The men lured the girl into a car in London by using social media, then drove her to South Wales and forced her to store drugs for five days. Yusuf told the girl that “she belonged to him.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation notes that the authorities hope the hefty sentences prescribed under the Modern Slavery Act will be a deterrent:

“Drug supply is not new, however the exploitation of vulnerable young people by criminal networks, to move and supply drugs across the country, takes this offending to a new level,” said Tim Champion, a detective superintendent.

“The use of the Modern Slavery Act is a proportionate and necessary response,” he said in a statement.

Senior police officials and Britain’s anti-slavery tsar Kevin Hyland last week told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that using the law to prosecute those who exploit, traffic and enslave people would send a strong message to other criminals.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) says that thousands of children, some as young as 12, are being used by drug dealers to carry drugs between cities and rural areas in Britain.

According to the latest government figures, there are over 13,000 people estimated to be victims of modern slavery in Britain, though police suggest that the figure could be much higher.

Subscribe

Freedom United is interested in hearing from our community and welcomes relevant, informed comments, advice, and insights that advance the conversation around our campaigns and advocacy. We value inclusivity and respect within our community. To be approved, your comments should be civil.

stop icon A few things we do not tolerate: comments that promote discrimination, prejudice, racism, or xenophobia, as well as personal attacks or profanity. We screen submissions in order to create a space where the entire Freedom United community feels safe to express and exchange thoughtful opinions.

Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

This week

Canada ombudsperson report exposes Dynasty Gold's complicity in Uyghur forced labor

The Canada Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) released its first final report this week after a complaint filed in 2022 against Vancouver company Dynasty Gold. Reuters reports that the complaint came from a coalition of 28 human rights groups including the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. It claimed that the company benefited from the use of Uyghur forced labor at a mine in China in which they held

| Tuesday March 26, 2024

Read more