‘They shoot up outside my window’ – heroin and crack-fuelled drugs wave spreads fear through ‘UK’s most depressing town’
SMASHING down a door with a battering ram, cops swarm into a modest red brick home – emerging with £40,000 worth of cannabis.
The early morning raid, carried out last week, is the latest effort to fight back against a dangerous drugs trade that is tightening its grip on the pretty cathedral city of Peterborough.
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Unflatteringly recently voted the “UK’s most depressing” area three times in a row, its proud residents insist they are “insulted” after being shortlisted again for the title in the annual poll by iLiveHere.
What is undeniable, however, is their frustration over a tide of lawlessness that has led to rampant shoplifting and wanton drug users lighting and shooting up on the streets.
Last year, Peterborough City Council was awarded £1.9million over two years as part of a renewed drive to offer drug and alcohol treatment services.
Like countless other areas across the UK, the Cambridgeshire city has been blighted by county lines gangs shifting Class A drugs including heroin and crack cocaine.
One despairing resident on a road outside of the city centre tells The Sun they have witnessed screaming addicts taking drugs “until four o’clock in the morning”, often brazenly outside their window.
Last year, the police announced a major fightback with Operation Tsunami, which targeted drug dealing, exploitation and serious street-based violence in Peterborough.
Over the course of a month, 48 people were arrested and 22 charged with 88 drug offences.
It resulted in 12 people being jailed for more than 35 years and £250,000 of drugs being taken off the streets.
‘Scared to walk down the street’
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Understanding ‘county lines’ gangs
COUNTY Lines are gangs and criminal networks that export illegal drugs from larger cities to smaller towns and rural locations.
Typically the groups use children, young people and vulnerable adults to prepare, store, deliver and sell substances on their behalf.
Individuals recruited by county lines gangs are often forced into ‘drug running’ where they are forced to travel to locations across the UK.
Often they are encouraged to do so through coercion, intimidation, violence, grooming and debt bondage – where a person is forced to pay off a debt through work.
The ‘county line’ is the mobile phone used to take orders for illegal drugs.
There are more than 2,000 county lines across the UK and more than 27,000 young people are believed to be involved.
In 2019, the Home Office announced a County Lines Programme to combat the trade.
As of December last year, 5,165 county lines had been closed, 16,623 people had been arrested and 8,011 individuals were referred to safeguarding teams.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary explained that they had launched the landmark operation last May after a spate of violence in the area.
Police said that since April 2020, there has been 28 attempted murders within Peterborough, 14 of which were directly related to drugs and 64 per cent of which used a blade or knife.
The revelations will resonate with residents of Monument Street, in Eastfield, less than a mile outside of the city centre, who were reported to have been “scared to walk down the street”.
In December, cops shut down a property there with a full closure order that forbids anyone from entering the home, after reports of “criminality at all times of the day and night”.
A foreboding sign on the door of the terraced home explains it was shut to “protect the neighbourhood from anti-social behaviour and drugs”.
One man, who agreed to speak anonymously, claimed to have seen people taking drugs including heroin on the street.
“There were a lot of issues with drugs from that house. They would shout from one until four o’clock in the morning. It would happen two or three nights a week,” he told us.
“They were not good people. I could always smell weed when I was outside so I kept my door locked. It looked like there was dealing going on.
“I once saw a lady sitting outside my window with what looked like a drug wrap.”
The city is a bit of a dive really. There are lots of homeless people who approach you asking for money and around six sit by the cashpoint too, which intimidates people
Shop manager Nicola Bedford
Among those arrested as part of Operation Tsunami was Hugo Chessapa, 23, who was jailed for three-and-a-half years in October after playing “a significant role in the operation of two county lines”.
A search of his home, in Eastfield, unearthed £10,000 worth of cannabis, crack cocaine and heroin.
Another dealer, Olusegun Babalola, 26, also from Eastfield, was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison in September after £7,000 of heroin and crack were found hidden at his home.
In 2022, Ben Cunningham, from Wyton Moorings, was caught with nearly £500,000 of cocaine and cannabis stashed on a boat in Huntingdon.
The 49-year-old was said to be a “key cog” in the criminal network selling drugs in Peterborough and greater Cambridgeshire.
Cunningham was sentenced to eight years after pleading guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine and cannabis, and possession of criminal property.
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Shop terror
In the city centre, student Shaniqua, 18, complains it “stinks rotten of cannabis” and that there “are lots of people taking drugs, who have scabs on their faces”.
She believes drug use has led to an increase in theft and shoplifting offences, explaining that her “traumatised” grandmother recently had her bag ripped from her shoulder while walking down the street.
In the year up until June 2023, there was a 48 per cent increase in shoplifting in Peterborough – up to 1,895 reported crimes from 1,278 in the previous year.
As part of a crackdown between October and December, police arrested 80 people on suspicion of shoplifting and have introduced an officer in the city centre to specifically support businesses.
I catch them stealing and then the next day they come in and look directly into my eyes
Shopkeeper Murat Tasci
Nicola Bedford, 36, manager at Jacey Gems jewellery shop, has seen several arrests outside the local Tesco, which she says is regularly targeted.
She explains: “A lot of people have been arrested there. I remember a man racing out with bottles of beer being caught by security.
“The city is a bit of a dive really. There are lots of homeless people who approach you asking for money and around six sit by the cashpoint too, which intimidates people.
“We’ve had trouble here in this shop too. I remember a lad came in and asked to see a £100 ring. We let him hold it and he just walked out of the shop. I couldn’t believe it.
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“There was another lad who we know is a drug addict, who asked to look at a £2,200 chain. We weren’t going to let him hold it because we knew he was going to steal it.
“He kept coming back until the manager had to ban him from the shop. He was either homeless or a drug addict, he looked very dirty.”
Sukhvinder Singh, 46, who runs a phone repair shop, says shoplifting has “gone down a bit” since police deployed an officer to support businesses.
He said: “Sometimes they would run away with phones. We used to have someone stealing every week but it’s improved a lot.”
‘Welcome to the Wild West’
Just over a mile away on Lincoln Road, however, business owners say they are still being targeted daily by thieves – including some drug addicts, who also attempt to sell them stolen goods.
“Welcome to the Wild West, this is the worst part of Peterborough,” one passerby tells us before promptly jumping into his car and speeding off.
Full-time mum-of-two Emilia, who lives five minutes walk away from the high street, tells us she doesn’t go outside past 8pm because it’s “too dangerous”.
She says: “It’s very noisy and not safe for women. I can’t go outside past 8pm because it feels very dangerous. Some people try to sell you stolen things and if you don’t buy the items, they put pressure on you.
“And oh my gosh, there’s so much drug dealing and shoplifting. My mum was approached by someone trying to sell her a stolen iPhone for £200 recently.
“It’s not nice going out at night, there are a lot of homeless people who take drugs and it feels like they can get away with whatever they want to do here. If I could I would move.”
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Exasperated shopkeeper Murat Tasci, 48, who runs The Blue Shop, is at a loss after being consistently targeted by brazen thieves for years.
“I don’t know where to start,” he tells us. “We are catching people stealing two to three times every day, it’s everything from chewing gum to beer to food.
“I’ve called the police but it doesn’t feel like there is any punishment for these shoplifters. I catch them stealing and then the next day they come in and look directly into my eyes without embarrassment or shame, it’s unbelievable.
“I’ve been threatened many times, people have pulled out knives and told me to watch my back but what can I do?”
“Stealing has always been an issue but it’s getting worse. It’s people of all ages, all genders and all backgrounds.
“It affects small businesses like us a lot, we’re already struggling and hardly surviving as it is. I’m struggling to pay the bills at the moment.”
Murat, who says he’s hired two extra staff members to watch potential crooks, fears there are organised groups at work as well as addicts.
He continues: “I’ve had some people come in with items they have stolen from other shops trying to sell them to me at a discount price.
“I think they must be part of a gang because they are stealing things that don’t go off like baby food, detergent, cleaning products, shampoos and big packets of chocolate.
“These people are making a hobby out of nicking whatever they can. We can’t stop them with violence and police can’t stop them either. I think the Government needs to do something to get thieves off our streets.”
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Cambridgeshire Police Chief Inspector Oliver Warsop told The Sun the force “continue to work tirelessly to keep Peterborough as safe as possible” and take all reports of crime and antisocial behaviour “seriously”.
He explained an additional police officer to support businesses was brought on at the end of last year.
Ch Insp Warsop said: “This post enhances the work of this team, increasing visibility in the city centre area, working with the Business Improvement District, partners and retailers to look at longer-term problem solving to address a range of issues such as retail theft and antisocial behaviour.”
He added: “We have successfully utilised powers, such as closure orders in recent months to address persistent antisocial behaviour, for example in eastern Peterborough where by working with partners and the community we have closed an address which has led to a sustained reduction in issues for local residents.
“We encourage residents and business owners to continue to report any concerns to us.”
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