By Abrad · May 15, 2006 · ·
  1. Abrad
    EXCLUSIVE: Pushers sell deadly drugs as kids queue for Big Macs
    By Charles Lavery

    INSIDE the McDonald's restaurant kids buy Big Macs and fries - while a ruthless gang of Yardie-backed dealers sell crack cocaine at the front door.

    Today the Sunday Mail can expose the trade in the highly-addictive drug outside the restaurant in Glasgow's Springburn.

    Local addicts call it the "Sweetie Shop".

    We bought crack and heroin from baseball cap-wearing Stuart Hunter. He boasted he was the frontman for a Yardie gang and claimed he could sell us guns and ammunition.

    Yardie criminals originated in Jamaica but have built a strong foothold in the drugs trade after gang members arrived in Britain.

    They control the crack trade in Scotland after moving north from London, Wolverhampton and Birmingham in the late 90s.


    In a three-week long probe we watched as a stream of addicts got their daily fix at McDonald's Restaurant in Springburn Road.

    Hunter and his team of shell-suit clad neds lounge on seats outside the main entrance waiting for junkies.

    As he sold a £40 rock of crack and a £10 wrap of heroin to our investigator, Hunter, 25, of Kirkintilloch, bragged: "I can get anything. I have connections with Yardies who can get room clearers (M-16 guns), heroin, crack, anything."

    Hunter boasted that a Yardie associate called Kev had already sold four assault rifles and was a regular traveller to London to pick up drugs and guns. He demanded £1000 for an M-16 assault rifle and £500 for the ammo clip.

    But the drugs were available there and then.

    Hunter said: "This is the only Happy Meal you'll need.

    "I've been here ages. This is a good pitch because everybody knows where you're talking about, even if they don't know the area that well."

    He produced the crack and heroin and promised as much as we could pay for.

    He added: "I can be here within two minutes of a call, we're just around the corner."

    Hunter also offered to order thousands of pounds worth of crack as well as the guns.

    He added: "Kev's planning another trip to London so he's going to get that out of the way first then the shooters won't be a problem."

    Springburn is one of the most deprived urban areas in Europe with an average male life expectancy of 66.6 years.

    A 2002 study by the Child Action Poverty Group listed it as the second most deprived area of Britain - with only nearby Shettleston worse off.

    A McDonald's spokeswoman said: "McDonald's prides itself on providing a comfortable, safe environment. We are extremely concerned to hear about this unlawful activity, which is apparently taking place outside our premises.

    "We thank the Mail for bringing it to our attention and will contact police."

    The Yardie invasion has created a new generation of addicts in Scotland.

    Thousands of heroin addicts are also hooked on crack, cocaine cooked into "rocks" and smoked instead of sniffed.

    A 2002 report by National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad, the Immigration Department and Customs identified Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh as Yardie strongholds.

    Our file is available to police.

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  1. Lunar Loops
    Tabloid headline writers wet dream of a story.
  2. bottlekop
    my god! how deprived! they ONLY have a life expectancy of 66 and 1/2 years! dear god to think people actauly die so young! sounds like real terrible place indeed...:p
    (enough sarcasm now...but it just stood out to me because the life expectancies in africa are horibly lower than that)

    she-it, europe is doing rather well if one of the most "deprived" urban area has such high life expectancy. in S.A(maby the best developed/best off place in africa) we have a life expectancy of around 25 yrs I think.(mind you that is urban + rural areas together... but the average is a good rule of thumb for most everywhere in S.A ). this is largly atributed to the factor of HIV and AIDS. and by 2010 the statistic of people infected with HIV will be as bad as every 1 in 3.(a whole 3rd of the nation!:( !! and its worse in upper africa to a large extent). oh well a little :eek:fftopic: I suppose, but hell with it.
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