This research shows how vulnerable individuals, particularly youth and minors, are at high risk of being compelled by criminal networks for the transportation, harbouring, storage, and production of different types of drugs. Traffickers target different vulnerabilities of these individuals to lure them into criminal networks and once recruited they are trapped in a cycle of exploitation. As our research outlines, criminal networks are driven by the motives of maximizing profits, minimizing the risk of detection, and continuously expanding their drug markets.