KILLER HEROIN DUMPED ON ENGLAND'S JUNKIES

Dealers move it south

THE batch of contaminated heroin which has killed 35 junkies has been
shipped out of Scotland to England.

The revelation comes as health chiefs confirmed details of the bacteria
which has been claiming the lives of addicts.

Yesterday, the Record revealed the danger came from the Clostridium novyi
virus.

Experts probing the deaths have identified the bacteria through DNA samples
from infected tissue.

But as they highlighted their findings in Glasgow yesterday, one of the
city's biggest drug dealers said the killer batch had been removed from
Scotland.

He said: "The heroin is worth pounds 15million and there is no way the gang
involved in this are going to flush it down the toilet.

"There was a ton of it in Glasgow but they decided to unload it on English
dealers because all the junkies here were beginning to panic.

"There will still be some stuff around in Scotland, but the deaths here
should stop."

Experts believe the batch of heroin was probably accidentally contaminated
with the bug when the drug was being mixed with other substances before
sale.

The source of the outbreak, had baffled health chiefs for more than a month.

A total 64 infectious cases have been confirmed and the virus was eventually
identified by scientists in Wales.

It attacks muscle, causing the flesh to rot and releasing a flood of toxins.

In cattle it produces a condition known as Black Disease after the
gangrenous damage it inflicts. It was responsible for outbreaks of gas
gangrene on battlefields in both world wars.

Health officials said the bug this time was thriving in citric acid, which
is sometimes mixed with heroin.

Dr Laurence Gruer of the Greater Glasgow Health Board said the most accurate
figures available showed that 20 people in Scotland, eight in Dublin and
seven in England and Wales had died of the illness.

He said three deaths in Wolverhampton which police said were linking to the
illness had not been included in the figures.

The Board's Dr Syed Ahmed said up to half of all cases ended in death.