What is CCE?

RUNNING… GOING COUNTRY… SHOTTING … GOING OT… TRAPPING

These are all terms for supplying illegal drugs which is of course a crime for which your child could be heavily sentenced.

If you suspect that your child is involved in supplying drugs or other crimes, it may be that they are being criminally exploited. Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) involves a young person (aged under 18) being exploited, pressured or coerced to commit crime by someone else, usually an adult.

Criminals target young people who they believe may be vulnerable such as those who aren’t in full time education, those who don’t have much money or those who have a turbulent home life. It’s important to remember though that any young person can be a victim of child criminal exploitation regardless of their background, age or gender. The most common age for young people to be victims of exploitation is 15 and 16 but criminals have been known to exploit much younger children.

Once the criminal(s) have identified a young person they wish to target, they will often try and test them by giving them items such as small amounts of cash, drugs or weapons to keep hold of or perhaps delivering small packages of drugs to specific people or addresses. Usually, young people are rewarded for this and may be given small amounts of money or drugs themselves.

After that, once they’ve proven that they can be trusted, it’s likely that they’ll be expected to do more. Perhaps making more deliveries, holding larger quantities of drugs, enforcing debts by assaulting others or they may be taken to an area that they don’t know to supply drugs there.

You may be asking why young people would want to get involved with this type of crime in the first place … some young people start off by enjoying the thrill of delivering drugs, others like the money or drugs that they get and others say that they feel protected by the criminals involved. As a parent, it’s important that you know how to spot the signs that your child may be being exploited and that you know how to have the conversation with them if concerns come to light.

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