MET WARNS LONDON ON CUSP OF DRUGS WAR

Police say crime families and ethnic gangs are squaring up for violent
battle to control multi-million pound heroin and cocaine trade

Nick Hopkins, crime correspondent Thursday November 21, 2002 The Guardian

The head of drugs strategy at the Metropolitan police warned yesterday that
the capital was "on the cusp" of turf wars between gangs from rival
communities who are wrestling for control of the heroin and cocaine trade.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mike Fuller said there was "every reason to
believe" that the big crime families and syndicates were preparing to
square up to each other.

The competition is mainly between groups of Albanians, Turks, Chinese
Triads, and Jamaicans, but London's home-grown crime families are also
jostling for power.

At stake is the multi-million pound class A drugs market and control of
illegal human trafficking, gambling rackets and prostitution.

"There is not only the threat from the criminals currently being targeted
by Operation Trident (set up to tackle black gang shootings), we now face
new threats from Albanian, Turkish and South East Asian organised crime groups.

"We are up against highly organised and profitable multi-national
businesses which prey on the weak, destroying individuals and families."

Commander Bob Quick, responsible for policing high volume crime, said some
of the recent drug-related violence in London - such as the gunfight in
Harringay 12 days ago that left one man dead and 25 injured - had been
caused by "infighting within ethnic groups".

But he added: "Once these power struggles are won or lost, there is the
potential for more inter-ethnic gang conflict. We are absolutely determined
to stamp it out."

Launching a new drugs strategy yesterday, Mr Fuller said the Met hoped to
refine its targeting of Jamaican criminals by having officers from the
island based here in the new year.

The Jamaican security minister is due in London today to consider signing a
"memorandum of understanding" that would allow two officers to be stationed
at New Scotland Yard.

This should help the Met identify criminals who have fled Jamaica and have
set up base here, said Mr Fuller.

"At the moment, we don't know the faces as well as the Jamaican officers.
Jamaica is a very small island and a lot of the criminals are known to the
police officers."

The move is part of the Met's broad strategy to tackle class A drug dealers
and drug users over the next three years.

Mr Fuller said research showed that 67% of people arrested in the capital
tested positive for either heroin or cocaine. He said the Met wanted to
make more use of arrest referral schemes and would be aggressively
targeting middle tier drug dealers. But he underlined the huge problems
facing London with figures for the drugs seized between May and October
this year.

Officers had recovered 37kg of cocaine, 63kg of heroin, 301kg of cannabis
and 500 kg of skunk with a total street value of £12m. Yet there had been
"very little impact on availability", he said.

Concern over feuding drugs groups has led the Met to set up a specialist
crime task force to tackle them head on. The rise of Albanian criminals in
the capital's underworld is a major worry. Two years ago Albanian mafia
took control of several Italian cities, including Milan, and their power
has been spreading across Europe.

The Albanians are thought to be behind the huge rise in the number of
kidnappings in London last year.

From Yardies to Triads

Yardie gangs

This year, 179 young black men have been shot - 18 fatally - in
drug-related conflicts between gangs. Half of the victims were British, and
40% were Jamaican. The groups are based mainly in Lambeth and Hackney and
deal predominantly in crack cocaine.

Albanian gangs

The national criminal intelligence service warned years ago that Albanian
gangs would target London, and they are now established in boroughs such as
Camden and Tower Hamlets. Kidnap, extortion and people trafficking are
their core businesses, but the drugs trade is an obvious next step. They
have been "learning the market and making contacts", according to the NCIS.

Turkish/Kurdish gangs

Rivalry between gangs exploded in Harringay 12 days ago when 40 people
armed with guns, knives and baseball bats attacked each other in Green
Lanes. One man died.

Still the major heroin traffickers into the UK, the groups, which are based
around families, are concentrated in Haringey, Hackney, Islington, and
south Enfield.

Chinese Triad gangs

Less prominent than some underworld gangs, but Triad tentacles spread
beyond Chinatown in London, where they have established extortion,
prostitution, drugs and gambling rackets.

Last month a BBC1 Panorama documentary on corruption in the horse-racing
world alleged there were signs that Triad gangs had infiltrated the sport
in the north of England.