Portsmouth accused drug dealer, 18, appears in court charged with slavery crimes against 8 children

Shariff Shakur,18, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates' Court accused of arranging or facilitating travel of eight children with a view to exploitation, between February 2 and April 28 last year.

The youngest alleged victim is 13.

Shakur, of no fixed address, is also accused of conspiring to supply cocaine and heroin, class A drugs, between the same dates.

Samuel Watts, 25, of North Street, Portsea, faces the same charges and is due in court.

A third person, 20-year-old Blaize Faith, of Eastern Road, Baffins, appeared in court charged with participating in the activities of an organised crime group.

Prosecutors allege she did so by safeguarding criminal property, conducting accounting procedures and transferring criminal property.

She is also charged with a money laundering offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 between February and April last year.

Shakur was remanded to appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on October 25.

Faith has been bailed to appear on the same day.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

We’ve slashed the cost of digital subscriptions to our website by 50 per cent for a limited time.

You can now subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, for less than 13p a day.