DRUG RUNNERS USE COUNTY AS A PORT

DRUG runners from Western Africa and Eastern Europe are using
Northamptonshire as a cog in the multi-billion pound trade of crack cocaine.

Evidence has emerged that couriers from African states such as Nigeria and
Sierra Leone are targeting the British drugs market via Northamptonshire.

And criminals operating out of the former Soviet Union are also thought to
be capitalising on the booming drugs business.

A Customs and Excise spokesman said: "This comes as no surprise to us, and
it is something that Customs and Excise is acutely attuned to with other law
enforcement agencies around the world.

"Class A drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, are very much our first and
foremost priority. These are the drugs which cause the most harm to our
society."

Northampton has Britain's largest inland port at Moulton Park, where Customs
and Excise monitor sealed cargo from across the globe for contraband.

The county's excellent transport infrastructure has also provided drug
couriers with an ideal means of distributing smuggled narcotics across the
British Isles.

However, latest Customs and Excise figures on crack cocaine seizures have
yet to be published because of changes in the way the statistics are
compiled.

Tony Clarke, the MP for Northampton South, flew back from Dublin yesterday
after a fact-finding mission as part of his role with the Northern Ireland
Select Committee.

He had been on a 48-hour stay in the Republic to look at links in the drugs
trade with Northern Ireland, but also to establish the extent of the global
network.

Mr Clarke said: "Northamptonshire has an important part to play in making
seizures. We are accepted on the routes for legal commodities, but that also
means illegal commodities. Couriers are using more and more sophisticated
means of smuggling, but fortunately the intelligence is also improving."

A series of major drug busts by Northamptonshire Police has been targeted at
the crack cocaine problem in the town. The Chronicle & Echo revealed last
week that the price of the drug was increasing because of supplies were
becoming scarcer.

Detectives pledged last year to target Northampton's most notorious drug
dealers in a prolonged, intelligence-led campaign.