Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000

Photo: PA

 

Top officers warned of the increasing cost of drug-ravaged society with hundreds of millions is being spent on the increasing number of addicts.

Chief Superintendent Mark Mathias from South Wales Police said: "Each addict can cost society not far off £850,000.

"You work through all the treatment, all the criminal justice issues that arise - then you see a significant costs involved."

Police in Swansea have launched a £500,00 clampdown in the city known as the "heroin capital of Wales" where officers have seized 1,000 "deals" in the last two weeks.

Superintendent Phil Davies said: "Some of these drug dealers have stated they are untouchable.

"My message to them is there is no hiding place, we will find you, we will catch you and we will put you behind bars."

Addict Amy Protheroe, 20, who has been an addict since she was 13 has just started her fifth treatment programme in Swansea.

She said: "When you're a heroin addict you wake up and you think straight away: "Where am I going to get money from, where am I going to score from?'"

"You get up, you go out, you get the money for the heroin, you buy the heroin, you do the heroin and then it starts all over again.

"To be honest, heroin has wrecked my life."

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000

charity worker employed by one of David Cameron’s Big Society gurus has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine with a street value of £120,000 into Britain.

Former US gang member Derrick ‘Anthony’ Mitchell was held at Heathrow this month after UK Border Agency officers allegedly discovered 3kg of drugs in his luggage. 

Mitchell, 37, is a duty manager at the South London-based Kids Company founded by charity boss Camila Batmanghelidjh. She set it up in 1996 to care for abused, neglected or  abandoned children in London’s inner-city communities. 

She has been described as ‘Britain’s most colourful charity leader’ because of her style, dress sense and selfless approach to charity work. 

The award-winning author and campaigner was invited  to 10 Downing Street last year. 

She also advises former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and is thought to be one of the inspirations behind Mr Cameron’s pledge to ‘hug a hoodie’. 
Ms Batmanghelidjh spoke of her shock at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, whom  she described as a ‘street-level youth mentor’.

She said: ‘Obviously, because the judicial process needs to take place, we cannot legally comment. The only thing I can say is that the alleged incident took place while he was on holiday in his own time.

‘At this stage I do not know enough to know the full details. But as a worker, he gave exceptional commitment to the kids over a number of years and I can never take that away from him. 

Pledge: David Cameron's Big Society aims to 'take power away from politicians and give it to people'

As an organisation, we employ a range of people and a lot of them have had challenging backgrounds as children and we have given them chances. The majority of them go on to do incredibly well.

‘In the situation of this individual, if what is alleged has occurred, he has made an abhorrent choice and I do not agree with it.’ 

Camila Batmanghelidjh said she was shocked at the allegations surrounding Mr Mitchell, claiming he gave 'exceptional commitment to the kids'

Mitchell, of Camberwell, south London, was arrested at Heathrow on October 6 and remanded in custody by Uxbridge magistrates the next day. He will reappear in court in the next month. 

The university undergraduate has previously spoken of deciding to rebuild his life after leaving a violent street gang in Miami.

He claimed he had earlier sold drugs and lost a family member to violence at the age of 19 when his sister bled to death after being stabbed in a leg.

After coming to Britain in his 20s, he began working with the charity about five years ago, attempting to convince youths in gangs to turn their back on crime. 

Kids Company operates from three centres in Southwark, Lambeth and Camden in London, as well as working in 37 inner-city schools.

It employs more than 600 people in full and part-time roles to reach out to 14,000 children from the capital’s most deprived and crime-ridden areas. 

Many of the youngsters live with  parents who are unable to care  for them and have had severely troubled lives.

Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang arrested 10 northwest suburban residents

The officials charges against the men were possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Police said several have connections to the Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang. "These people face very severe criminal charges. This criminal behavior is not just limited to Chicago and middle-class America," Monroe said.
The men arrested were:
* Trevail "Tre" Banks, 26, of 1096 Stonehedge Drive, Schaumburg.
* Shannon "Shine" Bennet, 29, of 1040 E. 80th St., Chicago.
* Kenton Bradley, 33, of 5512 Montibello, Hanover Park.
* Robert Green, 41, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg.
* Randy Hamlette, 39, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg.
* Curly Mixon, 24, of 17 S. Porter, Elgin.
* Yuliet Nava, 24, of 334 Dundee Road, Elgin.
* Robert "Big Boy" Wasp, 37, of 1930 Oxford Court, Schaumburg.
* Frederick Woodson, 41, of 36 Grant Circle, Streamwood.
Named as fugitives were Trotter; Corey "Sug" Stewart, 34. of 371 Silva, and Curly Mixon, 24, of 17 S. Porter, both of Elgin. The Cook County State's Attorney also arrested Damien Beamon, of Elgin, with violating state drug laws. FBI arrested 10 northwest suburban residents Tuesday for allegedly operating a large-scale cocaine and crack ring, often doing business at Schaumburg's Woodfield Mall and Streets of Woodfield.
A national manhunt continues for three men also charged in the drug sweep.
Other police departments participating in the case were Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Elgin, Hanover Park, Roselle and Streamwood. Authorities said one drug transaction was recorded by law enforcement officials while a dealer's child practiced football at Veterans Park on Holmes Way and Knollwood Drive on Sept. 6, 2006. Another recorded drug deal was at Wise Hand Care Wash, 1811 W. Wise Road, Schaumburg, on July 5, 2007. On June 15, 2007, drug money was originally to be exchanged at Rainforest Cafe at Woodfield Mall, but then changed to a Mobile gas station at Algonquin and Meacham roads. FBI agent William Monroe said Robert Atkins, of 2229 Mayfair Ave., Westchester, was the lead buyer in the conspiracy. Atkins was the recent owner of Wise Hand Care Wash, and he still owns a Chicago recording studio named Krunch Tyme Entertainment. The three-year investigation resulted in several recorded phone conversations between the men talking about selling automatic weapons, beatings for owed drug money and drug deals going for $22,500 per kilogram.
On July 20, 2007, Vernial Trotter, 35, of 628 Hayward, Streamwood, was recorded talking to Atkins about a someone owing him money. "I'm gonna kill this boy, hell yeah," said Trotter, according to a transcript, to which Atkins allegedly replied, "No, don't kill him, just whoop his (expletive)." "Man, nah, hell no dude, I'm gonna try to choke this boy out," said Trotter, according to the transcript.
The investigation -- called Operation Sitt'n Ducks -- netted 8 kilograms of cocaine, valued at $200,000, said Monroe. He also said more than $100,000 in vehicles were seized. In the Veterans Park buy, the federal complaint stated Trotter told an informant to meet him at Nathan Hale School, 1300 W. Wise Road, Schaumburg, for the football practice, but it was changed to the park. The complaint also said Trotter's wife drove up and parked next to his vehicle and handed him a white plastic bag. Trotter gave the bag to the informant, and the contents later tested positive for 30.8 grams of cocaine and 29.6 grams of crack cocaine. The $1,300 drug buy was audio and video recorded, stated the federal complaint. Monroe said those arrested faced a prison sentence of 10 mandatory years to possible life. "This was a large arrest and another example of a cooperative efforts among law enforcement," said Richard Casler, chief of operations for Schaumburg police.