27.12.04
Sunday Life
Blizzard of 'snow' is forecast after LVF cocaine coup
By Joe Oliver
27 December 2004
THE LVF is behind a plot to flood Ulster with cocaine, Sunday Life can reveal.
The terror gang plans to make a killing, after telling their network of evil peddlers - Get ready for a mountain of snow.
The party drug - nicknamed snow or coke - was once the preserve of the rich and famous.
But it is now almost as cheap as cannabis.
According to reliable sources, drug barons linked to the terror group recently took possession of a huge consignment of cocaine.
The drugs, which originated in the Netherlands, are understood to have been ferried in by container from Scotland.
One source told us: "The people who bankrolled the deal reckon they'll make a fortune.
"They've already put the word out to dealers that something special is on the way.
"They have also said it's dead easy to get their hands on more.
"Price has always been a problem with cocaine, but if they're selling it to dealers at £25 a gramme, then a bag will probably cost no more than £8 or £10 on the streets.
"It's a way of driving the price down to create a demand."
One of the main men behind the sickening trade is a well-known LVF figure in Lurgan, who has been questioned by police on a number of occasions about serious crime, including murder, in the Co Armagh area.
He and his cousin, who until recently was living in Lisburn, have long been involved in drugs and extortion.
According to sources, the LVF even supply 'back-up' to the pair when they collect money from pushers.
One senior detective said: "This is very worrying, and is further evidence that harder drugs - like cocaine - are becoming more readily available.
"Its increase in such a short time is of real concern."
Police have recovered drugs valued at more than £10m so far this year.
Cannabis and Ecstasy remain the most commonly seized drugs.
But official figures reveal that the overall haul included 16,684 grammes of cocaine, which would have fetched £1.3m on the streets.
The LVF - formed in mid-Ulster by Billy Wright, in 1996, after breaking with the UVF - has long been linked to drug-trafficking.
Other paramilitary groups, including the UDA, have shown increasing concern at the amount of drugs swamping loyalist districts.
And there were rumblings of a backlash recently, when 17-year-old Denise Larkin died after swallowing what is believed to have been a lethal cocktail of a cocaine-based drug.
slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Blizzard of 'snow' is forecast after LVF cocaine coup
By Joe Oliver
27 December 2004
THE LVF is behind a plot to flood Ulster with cocaine, Sunday Life can reveal.
The terror gang plans to make a killing, after telling their network of evil peddlers - Get ready for a mountain of snow.
The party drug - nicknamed snow or coke - was once the preserve of the rich and famous.
But it is now almost as cheap as cannabis.
According to reliable sources, drug barons linked to the terror group recently took possession of a huge consignment of cocaine.
The drugs, which originated in the Netherlands, are understood to have been ferried in by container from Scotland.
One source told us: "The people who bankrolled the deal reckon they'll make a fortune.
"They've already put the word out to dealers that something special is on the way.
"They have also said it's dead easy to get their hands on more.
"Price has always been a problem with cocaine, but if they're selling it to dealers at £25 a gramme, then a bag will probably cost no more than £8 or £10 on the streets.
"It's a way of driving the price down to create a demand."
One of the main men behind the sickening trade is a well-known LVF figure in Lurgan, who has been questioned by police on a number of occasions about serious crime, including murder, in the Co Armagh area.
He and his cousin, who until recently was living in Lisburn, have long been involved in drugs and extortion.
According to sources, the LVF even supply 'back-up' to the pair when they collect money from pushers.
One senior detective said: "This is very worrying, and is further evidence that harder drugs - like cocaine - are becoming more readily available.
"Its increase in such a short time is of real concern."
Police have recovered drugs valued at more than £10m so far this year.
Cannabis and Ecstasy remain the most commonly seized drugs.
But official figures reveal that the overall haul included 16,684 grammes of cocaine, which would have fetched £1.3m on the streets.
The LVF - formed in mid-Ulster by Billy Wright, in 1996, after breaking with the UVF - has long been linked to drug-trafficking.
Other paramilitary groups, including the UDA, have shown increasing concern at the amount of drugs swamping loyalist districts.
And there were rumblings of a backlash recently, when 17-year-old Denise Larkin died after swallowing what is believed to have been a lethal cocktail of a cocaine-based drug.
slnews@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
