Police in the UK have warned social media users not to make fun of the receding hairline of a wanted drug dealer whose mugshot they posted online.

Gwent Police last week used Facebook to ask members of the public to help locate drug dealer Jermaine Taylor, who was being recalled to jail after breaching the conditions of his release licence.

Alongside its appeal, the force posted an image of Taylor sporting a thinning head of hair styled in a peculiar fashion, which readers of Gwent Police’s Facebook profile proceeded to mock incessantly.

Before being taken down, the post appealing for information that might lead to the apprehension of the 21-year-old had attracted more than 10,000 Facebook “likes”, tens of thousands of comments and over 14,000 shares.

“Push his release date back further than his hairline, that should teach him,” one user wrote.

Another quipped: “What is it with prisoners released on licence, hair today gone tomorrow…”

The popularity of the post and mean nature of some of the comments posted beneath it prompted Gwent Police to issue a statement warning social media users they could face prosecution if they are nasty to people online.

“We’re really grateful to everyone who is assisting us in locating Jermaine Taylor, and we must admit a few of these comments have made us laugh,” the force said.

“However, when the line is crossed from being funny to abusive, we do have to make sure we are responsible and remind people to be careful about what they write on social media.

“If you say something about someone which is grossly offensive or is of an indecent, obscene or menacing character, then you could be investigated by the police.”

The statement attracted further light-hearted comments, with one Facebook user posting: “Can’t work out what’s thinner. This guy’s hair or Gwent Police’s skin?”

Numerous UK police forces have faced criticism over recent years for targeting internet trolls at a time when violent crime is rocketing across Britain.

In September last year, Chairman of the UK Police Federation John Apter told the Daily Telegraph that detectives in Britain are so busy dealing with trivial matters on the internet that they are unable to tackle real crime.

He spoke out just weeks after South Yorkshire Police encouraged people to report “non-crime hate incidents”, which it said “can include things like offensive or insulting comments, online, in person or in writing”.

A UK Parliamentary committee has been told that drugs gangs across Britain are grooming children in fast food restaurants by buying them fried chicken and chips.

UK Parliament’s Youth Select Committee has been given written evidence relating to the activities of criminal “chicken shop gangs”, which target vulnerable children at fast food restaurants, especially those who have been excluded from school.

Over a period of time as short as just a week, senior members of county lines drugs gangs buy meals for their vulnerable victims at locations such as chicken restaurants, before forcing them to run drugs when the young people are unable to pay them back for their food.

The inner-city gangs, which groom young people before forcing them to travel to small towns and rural areas to sell illegal substances such as heroin and crack cocaine, are also said to be targeting children at centres to which they are sent after being expelled from mainstream education.

In written evidence to the committee, the Youth Justice Board of England and Wales said: “Some [young people] shared that their peers had been targeted by gangs outside of Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), as well as outside sports centres.

“They also said that sometimes children are recruited through an offer of food (referred to as chicken shop gangs) and they felt that schools could to do more to keep children in school as it could be a protective factor from gang involvement.”

Last month, campaigners in London launched an initiative intended to raise awareness of gangs grooming children in fast food restaurants.

Unveiling a poster campaign at the beginning of July, the London Grid for Learning said: “The principles are the same [as with any other type of grooming]; it doesn’t need to be an expensive pair of trainers – if a cousin of a friend or a friend of a friend is buying you fast food or small gifts, they might just be nice… or they may expect you to return the ‘debt’ you don’t know you are building up.

“This can [happen] faster than you think, even if you think ‘it wouldn’t happen to me’.”

Separately, a BBC investigation has revealed that county lines activity is behind a rise in drug crime in many small towns and villages across England and Wales at a time when similar offences are on the decline in many major city centres.

Back in February, the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed that county lines drugs gangs in Britain were making an annual profit of £500 million ($604 million).

Police in New Zealand were called out after members of the public found packages that later turned out to contain cocaine worth an estimated NZ$3 million ($2 million) washed up on a beach in West Auckland.

Officers from New Zealand Police have now urged local residents who live close to Bethells Beach to hand in any similar packages should they come across them while walking close to the coastline.

According to reports from local media, the packages were caught up in netting and were encrusted with shells, suggesting they may have been at sea for some time.

A total of 19 packages of drugs were recovered, each of which was emblazoned with what has been described as being unusual markings.

After testing the contents of the packages and confirming they contained cocaine, police despatched a helicopter and several search teams to scour the area for more drugs.

In a statement, Detective Inspector Colin Parmenter of Waitematä Police said: “There is a small possibility that further packages may turn up on the beach and we ask any members of the public to contact us immediately if they do.

“Eagle helicopter will be in the area today conducting a search of the wider area and we will be sending regular patrols in the coming days to continue to check for further washed up items.”

Experts have suggested the drugs would have most likely originated from Peru or Colombia, where cocaine can be obtained for as little as $7,000 per kilo.

New Zealand website Stuff reports that the packages were discovered by a woman who was out walking her dog, which she claims was urinating over the drugs when her attention was drawn to them.

The woman said she doubted more drugs would be washed up on account of the fact that the packages she saw were all contained within a netted bag.

Separately, a New Zealand Police operation targeting organised crime gangs involved in the supply and distribution of methamphetamine has resulted in the arrest 10 people and the seizure of cash and assets estimated to be worth more than NZ$1 million.

Operation Maddale, a 10-month probe into methamphetamine trafficking and money laundering across the country, has so far seen the seizure of 20kgs of the drug with an estimated street value of more than NZ$12 million.

In a statement, Detective Inspector Greg Cramer, of New Zealand Police’s National Organised Crime Group, commented: “This drug has a devastating impact on our communities and affects countless Kiwi families.

“The seizure of 20kgs of methamphetamine will prevent significant further harm to those families.”