Drugs kill, from the smallest village to the biggest city

Our investigation into “county lines” drugs gangs shows just how deeply these criminals have embedded themselves in our communities.

For many years, the cliched view of drug dealing was cocaine being sold in glamorous, big-city bars and heroin being shifted on the streets of housing schemes.

Now, the truth is much more worrying. Every community – including small towns and villages – is being touched by organised crime.

Major dealers based south of the border are regularly sending foot soldiers into communities to open up new markets.

Once their men and women are in place, they start moving drugs across the country into virgin territories, often where there is little local competition.

It doesn’t take long for such networks to be established or for the young indigenous population to become caught up in this insidious enterprise.

Easy money, street kudos, and a perverted sense of belonging are all attractions for impressionable young people.

It doesn’t take long before such “excitement” is replaced by addictive cravings that fuel crime and poverty.

A generation’s potential can vanish almost as fast as the high brought on by that initial hit.

There is an argument that, when the likes of ecstasy appeared in the early 1990s, rural police and community leaders were slow to react.

After all, it was a big-city problem . . . wasn’t it?

Now police are acutely aware of the danger posed by the “county lines” gangs. It’s imperative they have the resources to smash these operations but they also need the support of those living in the areas at a risk.

It has been said so many times, but still rings true – anyone’s life can be wrecked by drugs.