Man sentenced for coercing teenage boy to sell drugs

 A man has been convicted of drugs offences after a teenage boy was coerced to deal drugs on his behalf.

Abdur Rakib – 21 (13.10.99) of Sclater Street, E1 pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and modern slavery following a hearing at Guildford Crown Court on 2 July 2020. On Wednesday, 20 January, at the same court, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work.

Rakib was part of a group of three men who made contact with a 13-year-old boy via Snapchat, asking if the boy wanted to make ‘easy money’.

After arranging to meet the boy in Tower Hamlets on 27 December 2019, Rakib drove him to Guildford, Surrey where he was kept in a room, with the intention that he deal class A drugs on the group’s behalf.

The boy’s mother, concerned for his welfare, managed to make contact with him and police were informed. 

Metropolitan Police officers attended the location and located the boy – he was unharmed.

Rakib was arrested on 28 December and subsequently charged.

Detective Constable Ben Stone from the Central East Command Unit CID said: “Rakib was part of a group who targeted a young child and pressured him into criminality with the lure of easy money. Thankfully, due to the quick actions of the child’s mother and the police, the boy was located safe and well before he sank further into the clutches of this unscrupulous group.

“There is no such thing as easy money – it always comes at a price, and where criminality is involved, that price will mean being put before the courts to face the consequences.”

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