Introduction
This report explores how and why young people are recruited into criminal drugs networks in Europe, and what can be done to prevent it. Drawing on a rapid review of international evidence, it highlights the complex interplay of individual, social and structural factors that shape recruitment, including vulnerability, peer dynamics and socioeconomic conditions. The report identifies a range of promising intervention approaches — from family- and school-based support to community mobilisation, digital prevention and targeted disruption of criminal networks — and highlights key lessons for effective implementation. It provides policymakers, practitioners and researchers with evidence-informed insights to support the development of coordinated and effective responses to this growing challenge.
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Table of contents
- Acknowledgements
- Summary
- Introduction
- Context
- Scope and objectives of this review
- Methods
- Defining the question
- Searching for evidence
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
- Data extraction
- Analysis: narrative synthesis
- Use of generative artificial intelligence
- Findings
- Study scope and landscape
- Drivers and contexts of recruitment
- Addressing the recruitment of young people into criminal drugs networks
- Implementation lessons
- Conclusion
- Discussion
- The findings
- Why implementation matters
- Limitations, gaps and implications
- Conclusion
- References
