October 4, 2018 3.40 pm This story is over 65 months old

Watch moment child grooming dealer caught by police

He exploited children as young as 14

Video footage has been released of the moment a drug dealer who was trafficking children into Lincoln to peddle heroin and cocaine was arrested by police.

As previously reported, a drugs network which exploited children as young as 14 into dealing crack cocaine and heroin from “cuckooed” Lincoln drugs dens has been taken down in a landmark police investigation.

Birmingham man Zakaria Mohammed, 21 was jailed for 14 years on Thursday after admitting running a narcotics supply chain and trafficking two boys and a girl, to deal on his behalf.

Drugs were found hidden. Photo: West Midlands Police

It’s the first time in UK legal history that child trafficking convictions have been secured under the Modern Slavery Act as part of a ‘county lines’ operation.

The case was brought forward following a joint investigation by Lincolnshire Police and West Midlands Police.

West Midlands Police released footage showing Mohammed’s movements, a raid on a Lincoln property, footage of drug deals by children in Lincoln and Mohammed’s eventual arrest.

Lincolnshire Police first became aware of the involvement of a group of males dealing drugs in Lincoln City centre following a spate of serious knife related assaults prompting a period of exhaustive intelligence research to enable officers to conduct a covert surveillance operation, recording over 200 hours of footage.