How 'winning' lottery tickets held the key to flooding British city with crack cocaine and heroin to the tune of £400,000 a DAY
GANGSTERS are using lottery tickets to flood a British city with crack cocaine and heroin, earning £400,000 a day.
Rival gangs battle for control of the swampy 'provincial border' Derby with class A drugs.
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Last month, four men from the '21' gang were sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison for running an Oliver Twist-style network of teenagers. medicine dealers in the picturesque cathedral city.
They had subsequently regained control of Derby's underworld Police muttered the dominant 'Eddie' gang led by Albanian brothers Edmund and Edward Haziri.
At the height of their power, the Haziris sold drugs to 145 customers every day – often disguised in folded lottery tickets.
Police raided their hideouts in March 2022 with 'simultaneous attacks' and found a huge casino complete with poker and blackjack tables in one basement.
Edmund, Edward and their cronies received more than 70 years in prison, leaving the '21' gang moving to their site in Derby.
The Haziris had themselves benefited from the downfall of the Hussain family, who ran a huge cocaine ring from their home in the leafy suburb of Mickleover.
Brothers Hassan, Zunaib and Danny Hussain led the provincial line while their father Saghir Younis oversaw a delivery team drivers.
Their empire began to fall apart when the police tried to… VW Passat driven by gang member Mudasar Hussain in April 2021.
The reckless thug rammed a police car before driving along a sidewalk and crashing into two cars head-on and eventually wrapping the Passat around a lamppost.
Months later, officers raided the Hussains' home in Mickleover and found piles of drugs next to wads cash and arresting seven gang members.
In a shocking twist, one of the brothers was also convicted for his part in a heroin and cocaine ring run by a rival gang.
Derby's gangs have even hired registered taxi drivers to transport drugs to young people bullied and intimidated to work as a dealer.
Last year, police stopped more than 87 taxis believed to be linked provincial lines and 'criminal exploitation of children', which led to calls for mandatory CCTV in Derby taxis.
It was his own dashcam that did it for taxi driver Shahid Iqbal, recording his detailed instructions to young dealers – as well as his threats to have them beaten up if they botched the delivery.
Police found the footage when they apprehended Iqbal, sealed his fate and gave them a map of the crack dens his gang used as a base.
One Derby gang even hired accountant Manraj Johal to create a Excel spreadsheet showing cocaine profits of up to £400,000 a day.
What do the locals think?
Law-abiding residents are devastated by what happened to Derby.
Rosie Philipson, 47, told The Sun: “Some of us who live here are too scared to leave the house, especially at night.
'I've lived here all my life and it was such a nice, safe place.
'But things have gone downhill and become even worse after the Covid lockdown. It makes me feel sad.
'I don't feel safe here anymore, but it's no wonder that everything happens here.
'Robberies, robberies and assaults take place here. I only go out during daylight to do some shopping.
“Anyone could be a victim here.”
Rosie pointed to a nearby tower block and said: 'The residents who live there, including quite a few single young women, are sometimes afraid to come out.
“You hear stories of people going to the ATM and getting robbed.
“It is the offenders who receive more money than us who actually go to work. It's killing me!
“Derby is a small town compared to others, and there are many larger towns and villages across the country.
“But crime is high and much higher than you would think based on its size.”
Pensioner Marsha Harrison, 73, said: “I think to myself I've reached the top!
“There's a little more fear now when you go around town. It has gotten worse since the lockdown.
“We would never go to St. Peter's near Primark, it's too dangerous. It's always been a bad area with lots of drug addicts and drunks.
“In nearby homes in Gower Street, people are too scared to come out and when they do venture out they are abused or attacked.”
Marsha's husband Cyril, 73, said: “There are more shoplifters, more opportunists, more attacks.
“It makes the older generation, like us, feel vulnerable when we should feel safe, both indoors and outdoors.”
Gang violence has spread to the streets of Derby, terrifying locals.
On a Sunday morning in September 2021, masked teenager Tarick Ahmed chased and stabbed a man in front of terrified eyes. shopping public in the city center.
Ahmed, who was previously convicted of possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply, was released immediately after serving his two-year sentence on remand.
Judge Shaun Smith said: “This was broad daylight on the streets of Derby motorists and pedestrians went about their daily business.
“Here's a guy with two knives going around stabbing someone.
“There is a background, and this was clearly not random attack on the street.
“But you stood on the street armed with knives and there you were disguised and equipped.”
Last August, four people were injured in a massive brawl between two gangs at a kabaddi tournament in Derby – during which gunshots were fired and a man was reportedly cut with a sword.
After another provincial line was rolled up in 2022, a local one right warned of “wars between gangs seeking to control the lucrative trade – often resulting in violence”.
DEMOLITION DERBY
Perhaps the most shocking twist in Derby's drug wars has been the number of reformers ex-gangsters withdrawn into the underworld.
Carlus Grant, 34, the former boss of the ultra-violent A1 Crew gang, was recalled to prison in 2019 – just four months after he BBC that a ten-year prison sentence had helped him turn his life around.
Derby dad Jermain Hutchison spent more than a decade working as a youth worker to keep children off the streets – before police caught him last year with a gun, ammunition and £7,000 worth of crack cocaine.
Sentencing him to seven years in prison, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: “You have supported young people and become a respected part of society. music and art scene.
“But tragically, during Covidyour life began to unravel and eventually you returned to what you knew.
“This has been a significant downfall for you. In your letter to me you say that you are deeply ashamed and I believe you.'
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