Pubdate: Mon, 24 Mar 2008 Source: Telegraph and Argus (UK) Copyright: 2008 Newsquest Media Group Contact: http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4627 Author: Steve Wright DRUGS FLOOD CITY - BY POST Heroin parcels are regularly being posted from Pakistan to undercover addresses in Bradford to flood the city's streets, the Telegraph & Argus can reveal. The illicit packages are seen as a low-risk way of smuggling the drug into the country and into the hands of cut-price Bradford dealers. The parcels are addressed mainly to rented houses in the city. They are then picked up, cut and bulked out with other substances from paracetamol to brick dust, before being sold on to other dealers and addicts at maximum profit. A partnership of crime-busting organisations, led by the national Serious Organised Crime Agency, is tackling the problem from its source to distribution point. A spokesman for SOCA said individual packages of heroin were being smuggled into the UK by post "little and often" but the cumulative amount was significant. The spokesman said: "SOCA and our partners are trying to tackle this at every stage across the supply chain. "We are involved at source in Afghanistan or Pakistan, through Europe and into the UK, with Revenue and Customs, the Association of Chief Police Officers and local police." The spokesman said it would not be possible to check every individual parcel posted around the world and there was a large range of methods of concealment. He said: "The heroin can simply be wrapped in a towel and brown paper, or innovative methods can be used such as weaving the drugs into cloth. "Delivery methods also vary. The most common, to disguise who the recipient is, is to use dead letter drops. "We are aware of the problem and are tackling it. It's not a new phenomenon, but certainly more sophisticated methods are being used." Chief Superintendent Allan Doherty, Divisional Commander for Airedale and North Bradford Police, said the packages were arriving in Bradford "on a regular basis." Chief Supt Doherty, who heads the Crackdown in Bradford, A Community Against Drugs' initiative, said: "We deal with them. "They are not so stupid to send the packages to themselves. They are usually directed to a drop address, a rented property or the home of someone who has been cajoled into receiving them. "Some are detected en route, sometimes the package is seized and prevented from continuing its journey or we might let it go on and track it to see who collects it at the end. "It is a low-risk way of getting heroin into the country instead of bringing it in person on a flight but it depends on whether the sender is happy to risk it in the post - the person at the other end might not always tell them it arrived." Heroin wraps are now sold for about UKP10 in the city but cut-price dealers are offering discounts on double deals of crack cocaine and heroin, known as white and brown. Detective Inspector Neil Benstead, head of the Bradford District Drugs Team, said two UKP10 wraps of heroin might be offered for UKP15, or UKP15 of crack cocaine and UKP10 of heroin might be for sale for UKP20. But once the dealers have hooked the addicts the prices will go up. Det Insp Benstead said: "These dealers treat it as a business and will offer discount to increase their business. They see the drugs they are selling as a commodity, but they are an illegal commodity." Anyone who has information or suspicions about drug dealing in the district can Dob in a Dealer anonymously by calling Crimestoppers. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek