LOYALISTS CASH IN ON HEROIN GLUT

LOYALIST terror bosses are set to bankroll a drugs epidemic in the North,
with towns and villages flooded with heroin at just one pound a fix.

Police believe UFF and LVF warlords have already cut a deal with drugs
gangs in Scotland to cash in on a worldwide glut of the deadly narcotic.

It's estimated that 90% of heroin sold in Britain is produced from opium
grown in Afghanistan, where the harvest has more than doubled this year.

More than 4,600 tonnes of the drug is available, and dealers around the
globe know they can slash their own prices and still make millions in
addicting a new generation.

Police working on counter-drugs operations have spent months probing the
links between loyalist paramilitaries and heroin traffickers in Scotland.

They have now drawn solid connections between the supply line and two
loyalist paramilitary organisations. And they believe the drugs
racketeering is being sanctioned by senior figures in each group.

The UFF has formally denied that caged boss Johnny Adair had anything to do
with drugs, despite RUC sources' view that he is fully aware of what is
going on. Last week, it was alleged that he would make himself available
for drugs tests under a new regime at Maghaberry Prison, because he is set
against the use of narcotics and has never taken them.

But RUC sources are insisting that the links to the darkest reaches of the
Scottish drugs scene run deep into paramilitary veins in the North.

Those same murky links, and the supply line down through which the drugs
are filtered, were also being investigated by Sunday World journalist
Martin O'Hagan, when he was ruthlessly gunned down by LVF killers near his
home in Lurgan last month.

Police have been forced to act because of the dramatic rise in heroin use.

In Ballymena, known as the North's drugs capital, there are between
800-1,000 addicts, and six deaths in the past 12 months have been
attributed to heroin abuse.

In north Down, there are an estimated 400 addicts and a rising death toll.

Undercover police know that one of the main drug routes is through
Liverpool, with the deadly cargo of death being ferried via a number of
Scottish towns to drop points along the rugged Northern coastline.

One senior RUC officer, who has witnessed the terrifying effects of
spiralling drug use at first hand, said: "those with loyalist paramilitary
links control about 80 percent of the drugs trade here and reap the
benefits without getting their hands dirty.

"The impact of heroin at knockdown prices on our streets could create
anything up to 10,000 new addicts. When you have dragged kids who have
taken overdoses out of pub toilets and alleyways, you realise there has to
be a well-funded multi-agency and community approach to this problem. If it
takes off, we are facing a nightmare," he added.