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The deadly trail
We reveal how heroin floods into Britain
DEAD END: After 3,000 miles the trail runs out with degradation, crime and, for many, an early grave
HUDDLED in a shop doorway, heroin addict Anthony Tiffoney shivers in the winter cold as his latest fix kicks in.
The deadly drug coursing around his veins is on the last stage of a 3,000-mile journey that we trace today from its evil beginnings to its pitiful end.
Our investigation of the heroin trail starts with a swaggering poppy grower called Munsha on the Pakistan-Afghan border who brags: "The Arabs have oil-we have an endless supply of heroin. And no police, no army, no British or Americans can stop us."
And it ends with shattered Anthony in his cardboard box in London, one of Britain's 280,000 heroin users, who whimpers: "It has taken my job, my family, my home and my life-and torn it to shreds."
As our undercover team follow the trail across two continents they reveal how the far-reaching tentacles of the world's most deadly drug entwine a string of seedy smugglers and drug mules every bit as desperate as the users it destroys.
Their hit is dirty money-and the price keeps on rising from £65 a kilo for opium poppies in a dusty Afghan field to a street value of £80,000 by the time the finished product arrives here.
We begin in the bleak badlands between Pakistan and Afghanistan which produces 93 per cent of the world's heroin.
Here our team, posing as Western drug barons looking for new supply lines, are driven by jeep across the barren region south west of Peshawar accompanied by a burly AK-47 toting security man.
In this tribal area, farmers grow vast quantities of opium poppy-just as they do across the border in the battle-torn Helmand province.
PAKISTAN: Here one kilo of heroin costs £1.5k - £1.8k. Suppliers Amjad, left, and Zeeshann
Our men are taken to a kiosk in a bustling bazaar where shopkeeper Rahman sells 100 rupee (80p) wraps of heroin alongside fruit and vegetables.
He calls in his brother Munsha Khan who grows opium for a Taliban drug lord to discuss the possibility of setting up a regular supply to Britain.
"By the grace of Allah everything is possible," he tells us. "It's easy money for everyone involved in this business. This powder is like gold dust in the West.
"We get by with around £65 for a kilo of our crop but the big money is if you have your own processing plant- that's how you can really make money."
Undercover reporters meet heroin suppliers on Pakistan / Afghan border
Loads
Then he adds with a smile: "If you want a couple of kilos of heroin right now, I can get it for you in minutes. If you want lorry loads it can be arranged."
Munsha sets up a meeting with a Taliban drug lord's salesman, Zeeshan Shah, in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, a day later. He arrives at the city's luxurious Serena hotel with his sidekick Amjad.
Over tea and biscuits, burly Zeeshan reveals how the trail works. "Heroin will arrive in London, inshallah (Allah willing)," he brags. "Either you do your own transportation or we can arrange it.
"From here it goes to Afghanistan and then on to Russia. That is the road route, but we send by air too."
Astonishingly, he claims his gang even have an AIRLINE PILOT on their books who smuggles drugs for them.
"That will cost you lots of money. He flies to London as well but it all depends on his timetable. It is a possibility," he says.
Zeeshan explains how heroin is smuggled into Britain via two main land routes-the "Silk Route" from northern Afghanistan through Central Asia and Russia and the "Balkan Route" through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Germany and the Netherlands.
For £200 a trip, Amjad ships large quantities of drugs in a Pakistani lorry through Afghanistan and up to the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.
"I take lots of different loads, like fruit and vegetables, or rugs and carpets," he tells us. "We hide the drugs in there and if you pay a few rupees to the guards on the way the lorries are never checked."
Zeeshan then hands us a small plastic bag containing three different wraps of heroin. "These are three different samples for you to test. What we give you will be 100 per cent good quality," he says.
UNDERCOVER: Drug smugglers sell kilo of heroin for £80k. Woman courier and drugs she was caught with
The price depends on which sample we choose-but would start from £1,500 a kilo up to £1,800.
On the advice of vile Zeeshan, our undercover team travels to Tajikistan to check out his smugglers a few days later.
The country shares a badly policed 800 mile border with Afghanistan and has become the main staging post for the trafficking of heroin to the West.
By the time a consignment reaches the capital Dushanbe, the price of a kilo has risen to £2,000 for lower quality heroin to £5,000 for the best.
An army of drug mules-many of them women-wait eagerly for the deadly deliveries, ready to smuggle the drugs further up the supply chain.
LONDON: Gram of 'cut' heroin on street costs £50
Their reward for risking their life is a few hundred pounds, yet in a country where the average wage is just £60 a month, there is no shortage of volunteers.
One of them-29-year-old Sahermo-tells us of her recent missions. She had to swallow 20 small syringes full of heroin. The needles are removed and the syringes sealed by burning both ends.
She says: "Then the boss would take me to the airport, buy me a ticket and put me on a plane to Moscow where I would be taken to a flat.
"There, I would make myself vomit and the drugs come out. Getting the drugs out of the body is harder than swallowing them. It is very painful."
Each courier is expected to carry around half a kilo. "I did it because I am an addict myself and it paid for my drugs," dark-haired Sahermo tells us. "And I have four children to feed."
Mule
Her fellow drug mule Vika, 30, was addicted to heroin by the age of 14. The mum-of-two says: "I had to work as a prostitute to pay for the drugs, but even selling my body didn't raise enough.
"Then my husband brought a dealer round who told me how I could make big money as a drug mule."
From Moscow, the heroin carried by Sahermo and Vika is smuggled to Britain-mainly by the Russian mafia.
AFGHANISTAN: A kilo of poppies cost dealers £65
On the southern Baltic Route, Turkey is the key hub. Just last week, a Lithuanian man was charged with trying to smuggle around £800,000 worth of heroin in a suitcase through Gatwick airport on a flight from Antalya.
A massive haul of the drug-575 kilos-heading for the UK was also seized by Turkish police in November.
But there are plenty of shipments that do get through.
Once it reaches the UK and nears the end of the trail, much of the drug is traded through kebab shops and coffee houses in north London.
It ends up in the hands of heroin dealers like Billa, who-after a quick phone call-is only too happy to meet our team who have followed the trail back home.
The bald Sikh arrives for the meet at a pub in Southall, west London, and asks our man to follow him to the toilets. "It's top quality," he says. "It's £50 for a gram."
Greedily grabbing a bundle of £10 notes, Billa hands over a small ball of heroin wrapped tightly in clingfilm. The same quantity-but purer-would cost around £2 in Pakistan.
The heroin on our streets is, depending on the dealer, often cut with 50 per cent cheaper drugs to bulk up the weight. So a 'gram' of heroin on the street really only contains half a gram of the drug-thus raking in £100,000 per kilo.
But despite that, Billa and Britain's army of dealers have no shortage of customers . . . like Anthony Tiffoney, shivering in his shop doorway.
DESPAIR: Anthony Tiffoney, one of 280,000 UK junkies
The 36-year-old former chef-sucked into a life of crime to feed his habit -tells us: "I get one fix for £10 a time and need at least five a day to survive.
It started with cannabis and amphetamines as a young lad but then I tried the heavier stuff and it got me hooked.
"Now my only worry is how I will get my hands on my next hit."
Three thousand miles away, that problem is shamefully being solved day after day.
All we can do is try to help break the chain. Our heroin trail investigation dossier-including covert video evi- dence-is available to the authoritites.
KNOW a scandal our Investigations Editor Maz should look at? Contact his team any time on 020 7782 4402 or email maz@notw.co.uk
We have to check every comment before we can allow it to be published. But don't worry, we've got a team on it 24/7 - so check back soon! Please note that we cannot publish all comments received. The editor's decision is final. Please note that your email address will not be displayed next to your comment.
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This article has 31 comments
I have recieved more abuse from my landlord but will be giving his name to the police after writing this statement and am in a safe house. I will be testifying what I wrote in court. The people with money are deluded in their staus and don't care about the people they groom. They are responsible for grooming children into crime and cause disruption in poor areas by listening to private conversations using boxes on tv. Charging a rate of 49.9 APR. They switch there electricals off from outside when £1 runs out and also pass what they here to organise criminals including burlaries. I don't have one but my friend does.
By Donna Lee. Posted October 2 2009 at 8:02 PM.
The drug is making multi millionaires who have legitimate businesses now they've laundered all their cash so no one can take it off them. They have accountants making sure everything looks sweet but corporate global companies, especially the electric manufacturing ones all made their money from heroin. They rent out their electrics of poor quality to poor people also. Around globally which makes them a fortune. It should never be legalised and its these people at the top, with all the riches that should be degraded not the addict, they should be helped to get off it as much as we can. They have their private jets to keep away from the people they groom to make them money, the addicts who are depending on a biological drug that the rich men manufacture. It makes me disgusted.
By Donna Lee. Posted January 12 2009 at 8:00 PM.
the only way to stop the problem is too legalise it.but thats NEVER gonna happen,drugs will always be around.becoz the goverment makes TOO MUCH money from it all.im a former heroin user myself and the corruption goes from the bottom ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP,and im mean the very top..does anyone remember the ship called the PONG SU that came to australia from KOREA had korean officials on board.they all want a piece of the MONEY PIE.there was kilo's and kilo's of heroin aboard the PONG SU..The only thing people can do is to help try minimise the harmfrom drug use ie supervised injecting centre's like we have here in SYDNEY'S KING CROSS district..coz the drug trade is here to stay my friends and no amount of bitching is ever goin to change the fact that the GOVERNMENT makes to much money from it..alcohol is one of the worst drugs around too but just becoz its legalised people treat all illicit drugs and its users as scum. people need to face reality it aint going away..
By lauren. Posted January 10 2009 at 7:35 AM.
Every one of his houses contained an addict and rent paid by the taxpayer to fund the acountant who went on to fund the Taliban send money over there. My landlord is linked to the organised criminals. He is very nice and has vasts amounts of money but you would if you'd made a profit of that.
Another main way of bringing over the drug is by aviation as the £2 is £50 made over here without the middle men. So aviation is worth it and we dont have resources to always track it. They can basically come and go as they please.
I believe rather than the war we should have protected our country first and that includes keeping up with their latest technology and aviation been picked up always. So it's risky for them. It's expensive but not as expensive as the war.
By Donna (again 3). Posted January 8 2009 at 3:56 PM.
I know the way the heroin millionaires operate and they have people who allow their transporters through as long as they get a back hander from them. That needs stopped and the only way you can stop this corruption is MASSIVE jail sentence for anyone who is working for our government and for the heroin trade, for sly back handers. Then if it is their family that suffers for over twenty years or whatever then tough its other families in UK that suffer by letting the poisonous drug in.
By Donna . Posted January 8 2009 at 3:43 PM.
Drug abuse and drug fueled crime mostly affect the poor of this country so don't expect much to be done about in the future.I have seen prostitutes offering themselves for as little a five pounds and heard about sons beating thier mothers to get the stuff. I think it's the worst thing that has happened to our society in the last thirty years. I hope one day vigilantes take over our communities and that street justice be meted out.
By Ann. Posted January 6 2009 at 6:30 PM.
i second what graham posted , could have said it better
ie
Thank you for this informative story, however I don't agree that heroin is either the most dangerous or the most abused drug in the world.
The real winner of the contest is crystal methamphetamine for the past 20 years. The worst thing about this drug is it's precusor (psuedoephedrine) is produced LEGALLY in 9 factories around the world. Governments refuse to harshly regulate the precusor because of the massive amounts of funding they receive from the pharmaceutical companies that profit from the illegal sale to drug makers.
An investigation and expose by your publication would be very helpful in putting pressure on governments and highlighting this scourge.
Thank you again for your vigilance
By sam. Posted January 6 2009 at 3:00 PM.
Well first there is no such word "junkie" its addict. And yes it does get a grip of you when you take your first hit or bag i dont know this but members of my family take it. Two off my family members have died because of this addiction and they do need help but it takes two years to get into a rehab, so where`s the help for them.
By kitty mccourt. Posted January 5 2009 at 11:13 PM.
I personally think this is wonderful :) The way forward!
By MR.E. Posted January 5 2009 at 1:00 PM.
Legalise it - problem solved.
By Adam . Posted January 5 2009 at 2:17 AM.
there is no war on drugs,just as there is no war on terrorism.its all a complete fabrication,controlled by the zionist jewish banking cartel like the rothchilds
the war in afghanistan against the russians was more about who controlled the poppy fields,just like the cia's foreign policy in the south american countries
By jordan. Posted January 4 2009 at 6:59 PM.
Bring back the death penalty for suppliers.
By David. Posted January 4 2009 at 5:27 PM.
THE AUTHORITES WONT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE THERE IS ACHANCE THEY MIGHT HAVE TO SPEND MONEY ITS EASIER FOR THEM TO CATCH THE USERS BECAUSE IT DOSENT TAKE A BIG INVESTIGATION LETS BE HONEST THE POLICE COMPLAIN ABOUT PAPER WORK IMAGINE THE PAPERWORK THEY WOULD HAVE TO DO DO IN AN INVESTIGATION OF THIS SIZE!!!!
By tippersbob. Posted January 4 2009 at 2:05 PM.
The Heroin trade is awful but its a bit ironic after all Great Britain went to war twice in the 1800's for the right to sell Opium to China!
By Jon. Posted January 4 2009 at 10:56 AM.
there would be less crime in this country if there were no drugs available, taking drugs fuels crime, turning drug takers into theives liars even killers. the pushers, the drug barons are all lowlifes. Why should the goverment help these addicts they should help themselves it was their choice in the first place to take the drugs. Burn the poppy fields, dust them with weed killer, make this a world a safer place. But the fact is nothing will ever change, there will always be people willing to take and sell drugs the world over. NOthing left to say.
By mandy. Posted January 4 2009 at 1:51 PM.
J Wilkinson has got sidetracked and completly missed the point.
Heroin does not kill when taken it's the rubbish that's put in it and the means of administration. If the result of Heroin is death and destruction why not look at other ways to deal with it so that it is safer ? But then we wouldn't have any one to vilify nor so many stories for the newspapers.You will never stop people from wanting to take drugs Unless we work to make drugs safer then we're on a hiding to nothing.
By Steve Baker. Posted January 4 2009 at 1:23 PM.
Stop this now, no one knows what it is like until it affects your family, it wrecks the whole family.
By sandy. Posted January 4 2009 at 1:21 PM.
The authorities can't stop heroin entering the highest security prisons in the country - what hope have they of preventing its transport from lawless fields through porous borders. Drug use is unpatriotic and dangerous yet the authorities fail to convince people not to use drugs. Legalise, tax and control supplies - it's the only solution
By tim. Posted January 4 2009 at 1:16 PM.
If there is demand then there will always be someone willing to supply it.
It seems very short sighted to demonise third world people (who make relatively little at their end) when they wouldn't even be doing it if there weren't people like Anthony Tiffoney willing to pay a lot to take the drug!
Stop the demand in England and the supply will disappear, no one is forcing anyone to inject heroin.
By tobster. Posted January 4 2009 at 12:51 PM.
Well, with the credit crunch here and gordan brown decideing to spend money on the environment, and obesity, why not start by cleaning up this scummy drug problem. they need to stop arresting the little men, trafficors and dealers, users etc.. they need to find the main buyers.. obviously some snotty nosed high classed, got money to burn types. The problem can only be with the main buyers of these assigment of drugs and needs to be addressing properly by the police, instead of patting them on te back for stopping assigments coming in, find out where they were expected to arrive. As you say, for one stopped probably another 10 get through, and you can bet, that most were heading for the same people!
By sandra jones. Posted January 4 2009 at 11:38 AM.
I can't believe that the authorities are not doing anything about this. My family have been personlally effected by this where my mother has had to bring up my sisters children as she was addicted to Herioin, causing alot of pain to not only her children but also everyone else around. It doesn't stop at the street to goes on a lot further than this and a lot deeper. I agree a good piece of work, but nothing ever gets done about it
By Sarah Jones. Posted January 4 2009 at 11:52 AM.
Why are drugs still coming out of Afghanistan when the British government told us they would stop? Makes you wonder who is now controlling them. If the Taliban are making lots of money from heroin and poppy fields to kill our troops, wouldn't it make sense to burn the fields so they can't afford to fight - or is that too easy?
By Trevor Nelson. Posted January 4 2009 at 10:21 AM.
It surprises me that governments don't simply "dust" from the air with weed killer, the the poppy growing farms .
Yes, it will also poison their food crops and hopefully poison their water supplies, but isn't this better than allowing them to get rich at the expense of out own people ?
By Julian B. Posted January 4 2009 at 10:30 AM.
Josh Wilkinson - when did your paranoia start? Pseudoephidrine is sudafed - millions of people use it to deal with blocked sinuses but you seem to think that the production of this drug is a deal with the government and drug companies to supply crystal meth labs! Nail varnish remover can also be made into illegal substances; why not ban that? Soil can be used to grow canabis so are you suggesting that we have growbags on prescription?
By Alun Thomas. Posted January 4 2009 at 9:46 AM.
A fine piece of investigation. I agree with the idea of paying boarder patrols across the world, a bonus system paid on drugs and amounts found. As long as the people who find the drugs get the money, that is the only way it would work. The drug runners do it, we need to follow suit. We need to stop these drugs being transported to our country from around the world.
By pfd. Posted January 4 2009 at 9:54 AM.
People who take drugs are mugs, everyone knows and has seen the consequence of heroin addicts, so why do some people still start taking it ?
Anthony Tiffoney says he needs 5 hits per day to survive well to survive for what, he should just stop taking it whatever he goes through for a short time is better then depending on a drug just to survive nothing.
I would rather be dead then live like that.
By SAH. Posted January 4 2009 at 9:07 AM.
“Heroin will arrive in London, inshallah (Allah willing),” he brags.
So Allah does his best to support drug distribution? It is amazing what people believe.
By Simon Jones. Posted January 4 2009 at 7:45 AM.
Well, British government did promise Afghanistan poppy growers they would pay them not to cultivate the drug, but the money never materialised. Afghans need to live, its like having oil in your garden, so you will sell it, unfortunately the victims are usually the child of someone who has tried hard to steer them away and it does wreck families lives.
Something needs to be done en route to prevent shipments coming in, unfortunately all police and guards will take back handers and I have even seen it 1st hand in Asia, a good salary is a good job done, don't pay off the Afghans, pay a border control or set up a team and pay em well, heroin is huge money but preventing it coming into the country is far worth more
By Graham. Posted January 4 2009 at 6:04 AM.
Thank you for this informative story, however I don't agree that heroin is either the most dangerous or the most abused drug in the world.
The real winner of the contest is crystal methamphetamine for the past 20 years. The worst thing about this drug is it's precusor (psuedoephedrine) is produced LEGALLY in 9 factories around the world. Governments refuse to harshly regulate the precusor because of the massive amounts of funding they receive from the pharmaceutical companies that profit from the illegal sale to drug makers.
An investigation and expose by your publication would be very helpful in putting pressure on governments and highlighting this scourge.
Thank you again for your vigilance.
By Josh Wilkinson. Posted January 4 2009 at 5:30 AM.
This needs to be stopped. Heroin is awful. The amount of crime and health problems associated with it is high.
By Alex. Posted January 4 2009 at 5:25 AM.
What a disgrace. Thank you News of The World - stories like this may make the proper authorities take a stand against these multi millionaires who will no doubt not be effected by the credit crunch and so openly flaunt their wealth.
By Paul Ryder. Posted January 4 2009 at 2:43 AM.