Pubdate: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 Source: Observer, The (UK) Copyright: 2004 The Observer Contact: http://www.observer.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315 Author: Tony Thompson, crime correspondent The Observer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) TIDE OF MISERY BY SEASIDE AS BIG CITY DRUG GANGS MOVE IN Tony Thompson Follows the Trail As the Heroin Barons of Liverpool Find Rich Pickings in the Bedsits on the South and East Coasts Like most seaside towns in Britain, Great Yarmouth in Norfolk has a promenade lined with brightly coloured hotels and pretty souvenir shops. There is a pier with a video game arcade and topping the bill at the theatre are Cannon and Ball. And, like an increasing number of seaside resorts across the country, Great Yarmouth also has a lucrative drugs market, controlled by gangs from Liverpool. The latest figures released by Norfolk police show that around a third of all the dealers in Class A drugs arrested in the area come from Merseyside. A significant proportion of the remainder have been recruited by or are being supplied by the Liverpool gangs. The situation is being repeated across the country with several police forces setting up operations aimed at specifically targeting the dealers from the north west. A recent report published by the Devon & Cornwall police authority and obtained by The Observer states: 'Liverpool criminals who have previously controlled the heroin distribution in Devon & Cornwall have diversified into crack and cocaine. They are now responsible for much of the Class A drug supply across the force area. This group poses a major threat to the force as their market places and networks are well defined and commercially viable.' Last month, the force made its biggest drug seizure of more than UKP400,000 worth of heroin. The find, hidden in a rucksack in bushes close to scrubland, is being linked to five men with Liverpudlian accents who were seen arguing in the area shortly before. Last week a further UKP15,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin was discovered in a guesthouse in Chelston-Torre. Two teenagers, both from Liverpool, were arrested during the raid. Gangs from Liverpool are also having a significant impact on the drug trade in Plymouth and many other coastal towns in the south and east of Britain. Det Sgt Nick Wilden of Devon & Cornwall police told The Observer : 'We do not have a problem with dealers from London or Bristol. The trade is effectively controlled by those from Liverpool. It's extremely well organised with a chain of command that goes direct from Liverpool through a number of levels down to the people selling on the street. The dealers will often base themselves in guest houses and store the drugs elsewhere. 'They make regular runs to Liverpool to obtain new supplies which are either brought down in a series of vehicles or by train. The dealers at the lower end tend to be addicts but those at the top are rarely on heroin. This is a business, one which they can make a great deal of money from, and they tend to treat it that way.' Liverpool has always been a major importation and distribution point for drugs arriving in the UK and gangs from the city have long controlled the supply across Merseyside as well as seaside towns in north Wales. They have also traditionally had strong links to gangs in Scotland. Earlier this year James O'Hara from Liverpool was jailed for leading a 23-strong gang of heroin and cocaine dealers in Great Yarmouth. O'Hara's gang is believed to have carried out more than 7,000 drug deals before being brought down by a six-month undercover police operation. The ringleaders of the gang were all from Liverpool but several low-level dealers had been recruited direct from the streets of Norfolk. Last month officers from Norfolk swooped on yet more members of a Liverpool-based drugs gang as they made a delivery at a supermarket car park on the outskirts of Lowestoft. DCI Barry Lister, head of Norfolk police's drugs and serious crime squad, told The Observer : 'The gangs first came to our attention last year. We are now liaising with Merseyside police and are involved in a sustained targeting of drug dealers from Liverpool. Previously dealers from Norfolk would have travelled to London or Liverpool to obtain supplies. This would be brought back and then broken up into street-sized deals. Increasingly, the drugs are being pre-packaged in Liverpool and brought to Norfolk ready to be sold on the street right away. This is big business. In one recent surveillance operation we observed a single dealer selling to more than 100 customers in a few hours.' Seaside towns, particularly those where large numbers of homes have been split up into smaller flats and bedsits, have always been popular with drug addicts. By providing this supply more directly the Liverpool gangs have been able to increase the amount of drugs available and also exert a far greater level of control over their distribution. The problem is particularly acute during the summer and autumn when large numbers of dealers are able to blend in with the tourists without drawing attention to themselves because of their distinctive accents. In recent months dealers from Liverpool have been arrested in towns in Sussex, Suffolk and Dorset. The increased focus on areas outside Liverpool is also believed to be in part a response to a year-long crackdown in the city by Merseyside police which has massively disrupted dealing in key areas. Last week, officers charged a number of people in connection with two gangland murders thought to be linked to a long-running drugs gang war. They also charged a 22-year-old in connection with a series of car bombings in the city over the past year. The crackdown has led to almost 400 arrests in the past three months, most of them for drugs offences. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake