Courier ladder: drug shops have become more active in recruiting teenagers
In recent months, drug sellers have significantly stepped up the recruitment of teenagers under the age of 16 to distribute illegal substances, Izvestia found out after studying specialized resources on the darknet and Telegram. Dozens of drug shops are conducting entire "recruiting campaigns" to attract schoolchildren to their criminal work: they make fan mailings with "14+" advertisements, hold raffles among car pawners and cash prizes (but with obviously impossible conditions), and promise to teach them for free how not to be caught while committing a crime. Such activity is a consequence of "staff shortage": due to the effective work of law enforcement officers, stores constantly lose couriers who are brought to criminal responsibility. Under the articles on drug sales it comes only from the age of 16, so criminals offer work to schoolchildren. The Izvestia investigation shows how the new schemes for involving children in drug trafficking work.
The drug market is getting younger
The owners of drug shops have begun to massively involve schoolchildren in the sale of illegal substances, Izvestia found out after analyzing information on special sites on the darknet and Telegram. If earlier criminals preferred to recruit pawnbrokers (a person who hides the goods in an agreed place) among those who are 16 years old and older, now they have launched agitation among children 14-15 years old.
Drug market stores buy data on users of large chatbots in Telegram, after which they make advertising mailings to the contact database. Izvestia estimates that the number of users who could have received the ads exceeds one million. Spam mailings are also made among darknet advertising agencies that post information in Telegram.
Information about the surge in "drug recruiting" of minors was confirmed to Izvestia by a source connected with illegal advertising in the darknet environment.
- The drug business is rapidly getting younger. The number of drug shops is growing, and they are constantly short of couriers: they are regularly arrested, and many leave on their own for fear of prison, " he said.
Reports on the arrest of underage drug shop messengers appear in police reports regularly.
So, at the end of 2024 in the Kaliningrad region law enforcers detained a 16-year-old teenager. He was trying to make a bookmark with marijuana.
In the Sverdlovsk region, a man of his age was caught in possession of photos with places of pawning on his cell phone.
A 17-year-old resident of the Moscow region was caught with 14 bags of mephedrone. Criminal cases have been opened against all of them for the sale of drugs.
"Izvestia" studied messages about the search for couriers on major darknet forums and responses to these messages from potential "workers". Based on this activity, we can conclude that only large drug shops hire five to 15 people weekly to do their dirty work. A third of them leave after 1-2 bookmarks, afraid of the nature of the work and criminal responsibility, few of them work for more than a year (or get caught, or prefer not to risk their freedom anymore), said a source of Izvestia familiar with the business of hiring bookmarkers.
According to the source, by lowering the age threshold for hiring, drug dealers are trying to make up for such losses. Under the law, criminal responsibility for drug sales begins at the age of 16. Children under that age are not at risk. This is the argument used by the recruiters of treasure hunters.
"Izvestia" conducted an experiment and contacted drug shops that have placed their ads on the darknet. More than 20 of them confirmed that they hire "from any age". Many of them also assured that a child would not face "any responsibility".
In an attempt to persuade the Izvestiya correspondent to cooperate with them , the recruiters offered him drugs for personal use, a map of "safe" zones in the city, and supposedly effective legends for law enforcers in case of detention. At the same time, they promised to pay for their illegal work for mere pennies - a few hundred rubles per planting. If the correspondent left the recruiters' promises unanswered, they insistently demanded that their offer be considered again (all screenshots of the correspondence are available to Izvestia).
According to lawyer Konstantin Kudryashov, there is no criminal liability for teenagers under 16 for drug distribution.
- However, teenagers are placed on a preventive register in the police department for work with minors, which may affect their future, " he said.
From the age of 14, criminal liability comes only for theft and extortion of narcotic drugs, the lawyer explained.
Those who involve children in the drug business are rarely tried. The recruitment of pawnbrokers takes place via the Internet, and such persons almost always remain unidentified. Therefore, they do not care what happens to the child, the expert added.
The number of child pawnbrokers is growing
Since January 2025, Russia has increased responsibility for the involvement of minors in the commission of crimes and antisocial actions (Articles 150 and 151 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Now for the involvement of children under 14 years of age (as well as two or more minors) in the commission of a crime faces up to nine years, in a criminal group and a particularly serious crime - up to ten years. Increased responsibility for such actions is provided for if a child was recruited on the Internet.
Most often children are involved in the sale of drugs and psychotropic substances.
- In 2023, the number of such crimes increased by 52.3% (from 1.4 thousand to 2.1 thousand), - said one of the authors of the amendments Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Vasily Piskarev when considering the bill in December 2024.
This topic was also raised by Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Bastrykin. According to him, in 2024 the number of especially serious crimes (which includes drug trafficking) committed by teenagers increased by 22%.
The figures are confirmed by specific criminal cases. For example, Izvestia recently told a story that happened in Magadan, where a 9th grade student "worked" not as a simple pawnbroker, but together with a first-year student of a local technical school, ran a drug shop on the darknet for at least two months, from September to October 2024. Moreover, the teenagers started trading in 20 regions of Russia at once.
In the Urals in December, Interior Ministry officers detained a 15-year-old schoolgirl with a large batch of mephedrone. According to the girl, she committed the crime because she wanted to "make some money" in this way. At the same time in Moscow began a check on a company of teenagers: according to law enforcement agencies, they blackmailed a 15-year-old schoolboy into making bookmarks.
Another story, on condition of anonymity, was told to Izvestia by the mother of a former pawnbroker who got a job in a drug store when he was 15. The child wanted to save up for a new phone and answered an ad that came to him in messenger. The cops busted him with the drugs.
- We have a small town and this story quickly reached the teachers at the school my son attended. He didn't go to jail, but he faced terrible harassment from teachers and students. I had to change schools, and I had to take my son to a psychologist for over a year, ," she recalled.
The reasons why children agree to work as pawnbrokers are very different, said Leonid Armer, chairman of the board of the NGO "Center for Protection and Personal Development".
- Often children really want to earn money, but the reasons are different. Sometimes schoolchildren from well-to-do families who are looking for a way to prove to their parents that they are capable of achieving something commit a crime. Another reason is the thirst for adrenaline. For many people it is a kind of quest: whether the law enforcers will catch them or not. All these cases have been in my practice," he said.
New schemes to attract schoolchildren
According to an Izvestiya source with information about criminal schemes of trading on the darknet, the number of child couriers is also growing due to new schemes introduced by criminals. For example, many drug shops now hire couriers without a deposit, although in the past this was always used to "insure" against theft.
- The alternative to bail was a photo of the courier's passport, which he was obliged to give to his employers: it could be used to identify the courier if he decided to abscond with the goods. Many people were repulsed by this. But shops are increasingly abandoning this scheme. Documents can be forged, and the services of bouncers who punish fugitives are too expensive," explained the Izvestia interlocutor.
Recruiters also make other options free of charge, for which they used to charge money. On some darknet sites there are so-called schools of clademen, where newcomers are explained the principles of work and taught not to get caught by law enforcers. On forums, moderators write that "training" on previously paid "programs" now costs nothing, but only if further "employment" is obtained through this school.
Drug dealers are increasingly trying to pass off their business as the norm. Many marketplaces have lawyers, doctors, and the site itself selling illegal substances looks like an ordinary online store. When hiring a person for a job, drug dealers behave extremely politely.
- Susceptible children fall for it. If before they had a fear of this business, now they see the illusion of normality and accept the job. At the same time, they do not understand that this is just a marketing ploy," says Leonid Armer, chairman of the Center for Protection and Personal Development.
How to protect a child
- In the past, children were also discouraged because they could do a poor job and easily give employers up. Now they are being "trained" more rigorously. New manuals are written, professional lawyers are involved. Newcomers are assigned supervisors," one of the employees of a drug store on the darknet told Izvestia.
In order to keep treasure hunters in the criminal business longer, drug shop owners have started to come up with their own tricks. For example, they announce "contests" among the pawners, supposedly with serious "prizes" - cash payments and even cars. But in order to do so, one has to fulfill obviously impossible conditions, for example, to make several thousand bookmarks per month. "Izvestia" counted about 50 such posts on forums on the darknet only in recent months.
- Children actively fall for it, and they don't realize that most couriers don't even make that many bookmarks in a year," commented the newspaper's source in the darknet.
Natalya Naumova, a child psychologist, believes that any tricks of drug dealers can be resisted. However, not only the child's awareness is important for this, but also that of his parents.
- Sometimes adults start to intimidate children, promise to punish them. But this does not always bring results. It is important to dialog and explain why the drug trade is dangerous not only for the pawnbroker, but also for the buyer. Because of their infantile nature, children do not always realize this, " she said.
The teenager himself should understand that self-realization is not only possible through crime. Parents should help them decide on their hobbies and involve them in various activities, as well as maintain constant contact with their child.
