TOUGH DRUG SQUAD TAKES ON PUSHERS

A DRUG-busting RUC squad has fired the first salvoes in its war with the
pushers on the streets of Ballymena.

The mobile support unit has launched a series of raids which netted
cannabis, heroin and led to a number of arrests.

The no-nonsense squad nicknamed "The Enforcers" by locals was drafted into
the town to boost the fight against drug barons.

Inspector Tim Hanley, who commands the team, said: "The drug dealers know
we are here and those that don't soon will.

"Our message is that there is no hiding place, nowhere to run and we can
mount a sustained campaign."The unit, made up of Inspector Hanley, four
sergeants and 24 constables, is working with other RUC squads in the battle
to clean up the streets.

Acting on the specialist local knowledge from the existing Ballymena crime
team, they are on standby to strike at the homes of known drugs figures.

The specially-trained officers don riot gear and use sledgehammers and
metal cutters to break down the makeshift defences at the reinforced drug
dens.

Police chiefs and community leaders expressed alarm at the spiralling
number of offences being committed by desperate addicts.

Hailing the early successes of the unit, Chief Inspector Bill Woodside
said: "There was a noticeable increase in the level of crime which we
believed was down to drugs.

"The arrival of the new unit will assist the work of other RUC units and
allow us to sustain our operations over a longer period of time."