GHETTO BLASTED
Brit inner cities ‘bad as Mexico’ says UN boss
PARTS of inner-city Britain are becoming as lawless as the bloody, drug-ravaged badlands of Latin America, a United Nations boss has sensationally claimed.
Professor Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN’S International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said areas of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham have become ‘no-go’ ghettoes where the law is losing the battle against drug traffickers and organised crime.
Gangs running parts of the three cities were directly compared to the drug cartels which hold sway over large parts of Brazil and Mexico.
Prof Ghodse said the cities were trapped in ‘a vicious cycle of social exclusion and drugs problems and fractured communities’.
The development of ‘no-go areas’ is being fuelled by threats such as social inequality, migration and celebrities normalising drug abuse, he warned.
“Drug traffickers, organised crime, drug users, they take over. They will get the sort of governance of those areas.
“Examples are in Brazil, Mexico, in the United States, in the UK, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and therefore it is no good to have only law enforcement, which always shows it does not succeed.”
But top plod Tim Hollis, Chief Constable of Humberside, hit back at the prof ’s comments.
Problems
Speaking for the Association of Chief Police Officers, Hollis – no relation to The Bill’s PC Reg Hollis – said: “I simply do not recognise the reference to “no go” areas in the UK.
“All police forces work closely with local authorities, criminal justice partners and local communities to tackle criminality in relation to drugs, acting on intelligence received and addressing problems robustly.’
However he added: “I welcome the report in that it highlights the many positive initiatives being carried out across the country to address drug related problems.”
Hundreds have been killed in Central and South America over recent months as bloodthirsty cartels vie for supremacy. While noticeable, the butchery has been on a rather smaller scale in the less-lovely parishes of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.