County lines drug trafficking

In the United Kingdom, the county lines drug supply model is the practice of trafficking drugs into rural areas and smaller towns, away from major cities. Criminal gangs recruit and exploit vulnerable children, sometimes including children in pupil referral units and those who have been excluded from school, and exploit them to deal drugs. Some young people are recruited via debt bondage, whereby they enter county lines to pay off drug debts.

The term "county lines" is used where illegal drugs are transported from one area to another, often across police and local authority boundaries. Lines refers to the phone numbers, or deal lines, dedicated to this activity. The practice is also known by those involved as "going country" ("cunch") or "going OT" ("outta town").