In broad daylight, the ‘deal’ is made
YOUNG and brazen, he parks his scooter just yards from a children’s playground to make his latest delivery in the middle of the afternoon.
In a spot notorious for drug dealers, the helmeted figure furtively glances around before rummaging in a bag and handing a woman a small package in a plastic bag in exchange for a crumpled bank note.
The suspected ‘deal’ was over in less than a minute before the young man roared off on the white scooter, which had no licence plate.
This shocking photograph, taken as part of a Mail investigation into drug dealing in Norfolk, demonstrates how shameless gangs are operating in broad daylight.
Just an hour before this image was captured, neighbourhood police officers held a street surgery outside the parade of shops 100 yards away to reassure local people and hear concerns.
Over two days, the same teenager, whose identity has been obscured for legal reasons, was seen on his scooter doing a number of deliveries around a park in Norwich, including one drop-off on a street in front of a father walking his son home from primary school. Yesterday a frustrated local resident said: ‘There are drug deals going on all the time. It happens everywhere.’
Last night the image was passed to Norfolk Police for investigation. The force has launched the UK’s biggest crackdown on county lines drug gangs, making 714 arrests, including 126 children.
Earlier this week, the Mail highlighted the force’s extraordinary efforts to disrupt drugs networks, with one single undercover officer who infiltrated drugs gangs securing 72 convictions.